Calm Before the Storm
by Polgara218
Summary: Sequel to Amnesia. As Bella is forced to come to terms with her destiny personal problems began to get in the way, Just as the Volturi began to close in. Jake/Bella
1. Homecoming

_**Prologue**_

My eyes widened in horror as the vial dropped from his hand and over the edge of the cliff.

Time seemed to pause for a moment and then without even having to think I threw myself over the edge after it.

The waters below looked rough and angry as I raced toward them. The air whipped past me and I could still see the glint of the vial that held the only way of saving his life floating inches from my outstretched hand.

I had one shot at this, one chance to get the vial and get back to the house. If I didn't make it, he would die and I would lose him before I could tell him that I loved him. I had already lost him once and I couldn't do it again.

I braced myself for the impact, just as I hit the water and plunged into it's depths.

* * *

_**Chapter One**_

The sunset seemed to shimmer as the last rays faded over the horizon. Darkness settled and I was left with the uneasy feeling that I felt every time the sun set. Darkness was the time when the creatures normal people wanted to avoid came out.

I accelerated as I came closer and closer to my final destination: home. That was the one word that had kept me going for so long. The idea that I had a place to return to.

I hummed along to the radio, as I tried to keep my thoughts from my anxiety. I had no idea what home would be like when I got back. Had Jacob moved on? Would Charlie be upset?

I turned the music up and continued to try to drown my thoughts. I didn't want to think about anything right now, except the roads.

I smiled as I drove past the "Welcome To Forks" sign. It felt like forever since I had driven through these streets, when really it had only been a month. A Month that had been agonizingly long.

I pulled up in front of Charlie's house and cut the engine of my rental car. I would have to hope that I could get a new car soon, maybe it had been rash abandoning my old car.

"Hello? Anybody home?" I called out as I stepped into the house and closed the front door behind me. Charlie's cruiser had been in the driveway.

"Bella." Charlie came out of the kitchen and embraced me.

"Hey, Dad." I smiled as I took a step back and looked around the house. Memories of my last visit to this house coursed through my mind, and I knew I could never sleep in my bedroom again. I wondered if anyone had ever cleaned up the mess.

"How was your trip?" he asked, a wide smile stretched across his face.

"It was nice. Are you hungry?" I returned his smile, wanting to avoid the topic.

"I just ate, plus I promised Billy that I'd send you over as soon as you got here."

"Ok, I guess I'd better go then." I gave him one more hug before leaving the house again and driving toward La Push.

I couldn't help but feel hurt, Billy had asked to see me, not Jacob. Surely Jake could understand that I had no choice but to leave.

The drive went by quickly and I pulled in front of the house, cutting the engine and drawing in the strength I needed to get out of the car and move to the door.

I slowly got out and locked the car behind me. I had to will myself to take every step and then force myself to knock.

"Hey, Bella." Billy answered the door, rolling aside so that I could come in.

"How have you been?" I asked as I took a seat on the couch.

"I've been good, and you?"

"It's been a long couple of months." I answered honestly as I leaned back and ran my hand through my hair.

"I can imagine."

"Is Jake here?" I was careful to keep my voice empty of emotion.

"He's out patrolling, but he should be here soon."

I nodded slowly as I looked out the window. I could remember looking out the window like this a million times while I was gone and wondering what Jake was doing at that moment.

"Can I get you something to drink?" Billy asked politely after several seconds of silence.

"I'm fine, but would you mind if I used your bathroom, it's been a long drive?" I gave him a small smile.

"Go ahead." he answered quickly.

I got up from the couch and entered the bathroom, where I looked at myself in the mirror. Despite the car ride I still appeared to be in good condition.

My hair was longer than I had ever had it before and it had returned to it's natural shade. It was nice to just let it hang instead of pulling it back like I had done while I was gone.

My clothes were nice. A light green shirt and a pair of jeans. They had managed to avoid getting wrinkled.

I wore a light amount of make up and all in all I looked much more like how I had looked when I had first found my way back here. Nothing like I had looked recently.

I ran my hands through my hair one more time before leaving the bathroom and moving back to the living room.

Jake was there, waiting for me, Billy nowhere in sight, when I entered.

"Jake." my voice was hesitant, barely above a whisper, yet full of hope as I spoke.

"Bella." his voice was emotionless.

I waited having no idea what to say. I wondered if he was thinking back to the letter I had given him, or the last time we had seen each other.

"How have you been?" I broke the silence, it was too painful to just watching him stare at me with absolutely no emotion.

"How can you possibly ask me that?" his voice took on an angry edge, "You left again, Bella. You just disappeared once and I had finally gotten you back and then you left again. I haven't heard from you in a month. I didn't know if you were safe or even alive."

I felt tears well up in the corners of my eyes, but I tried to suppress them.

"I know you're mad and you have every right to be. Jake, I didn't want to leave." I looked down at the ground.

"Then why did you? We could've worked things out on our own here. You didn't have to go."

"I know that you don't believe me, but I didn't have a choice."

"You always have a choice." he spat at me, his face was a hard mask.

"I know it doesn't change anything, but I just want you to know that a day didn't go by when I didn't think about you and miss you." I told him as several tears fell down my cheeks.

I then left the house, closing the door behind me and hurried to my car before I completely fell apart.

I got in and drove back toward Forks, pulling over when the tears began to obstruct my vision.

"Welcome home." I whispered to myself as I collapsed into sobs.

_Thanks for reading. I'll be out of town for a couple of weeks, so it may be a while before I update._


	2. Watched

"_**With power comes great responsibility." the man whispered to me quietly before he set the blade in my outstretched hands.**_

"_**I never asked for this." I whispered softly as I looked up into his eyes. **_

"_**But would you trust anyone else with power like this?" he asked with a small, knowing smile. **_

_**I blew at a strand of hair that had fallen into my face as I contemplated the impossible question.**_

_**Could I possibly trust anyone else with the responsibility that had been pressed on me? No, I had seen what the consequences would be if I had chosen wrong. At least I had accepted this, maybe I hadn't known the extent of what I had accepted, but I had at least said yes. No one was more suited for this task then I was.**_

"_**What do I do now?" I asked as I looked back up at him. His eyes mirrored the fact that he already knew my answer to his question.**_

"_**You know. You don't need me to tell you how to follow your destiny." he smiled again before he left the room, leaving me by myself.**_

_**I paused to look out the window at the towering, snow-capped mountains that blocked my view of everything else, before I left the room and moved down the hall.**_

I blinked my eyes as they flew open. The sunlight was streaming through the living room window where I had slept on the couch last night.

I shook away the memory that had occupied my dream and moved over to the window to look out.

Charlie's cruiser was gone from the driveway and my rental car still sat in front of the house. The only thing that didn't look normal was the large wolf that sat at the edge of the woods.

I rolled my eyes and tried not to get overly irritated before I hurried upstairs to get ready.

I got ready quickly and didn't pause to eat as I left the house and moved over to the woods where I had seen the wolf.

"I know your there, you might as well just come out." I called as I placed my hands on my hips and waited patiently.

"Hey, Bella." Quil hesitantly stepped out of the woods several seconds later. He was dressed in cut offs and hadn't changed much from the last time I has seen him.

"You want to tell me what you're doing here?" I let some of my annoyance come into my voice. The last thing I needed was someone following me around everywhere.

"I was just, you know, passing through." he shrugged nonchalantly, but his face held a completely different story.

"You can tell Jake that I don't need you to watch me. I am perfectly capable of protecting myself."

"I'll pass along the message." he watched me as if he were waiting for me to start yelling.

"Thank you." I let my voice become nicer before I went back to the house and stepped inside.

Jake couldn't just act like he wanted nothing more to do with me and then send people from the pack to watch me every second of the day.

Several months ago I needed the protection, but as I was sure he was aware now, I could easily protect myself from everything I had needed protection from before.

I placed my head in my hands as I sunk down against the kitchen counter, all of my anger evaporated and I was just left with the sadness that had crushed me yesterday.

Despite the note I had sent him, he had no idea what I had gone through, what I knew I would have to go through. He had his responsibilities and I had mine.

I forced myself to get up and grab my purse as I hurried from the house. I wasn't sure where I was going, but I needed to get away.

I drove aimlessly through the town and then pulled into the empty high school parking lot and parked.

I stared out the window at the parking lot and school in front of me and thought back through my memories that I had of this school.

I got so lost in all of them that I didn't even notice when the car pulled up beside me and a woman got out until she was knocking on my window.

"Olivia." I stepped out of the car and folded my arms, well aware of the danger I might have just placed myself in.

"Bella, it's good to have you back." she smiled warmly. It was hard to imagine that she cold possibly be dangerous in those few seconds. She had always looked flawless and innocent, I never would have guessed that she and her family were involved with the Volturi.

"What do you want?" I asked carefully. I still hadn't decided what I thought of her.

"I thought you might want this." she pressed a piece of paper with an address into my hand.

"What is this?" I asked trying to keep my voice neutral.

"It's the address to the safe house. I thought you might want to see your friends." she then turned and without another word got back into her car and left, leaving me with no idea what to think.

I got back into my own car and shoved the address into my purse that sat on the seat beside me. I had no idea whether to trust her or not and I had no intention of walking into a trap.

The ringing of my cell phone shattered me out of my thoughts and I quickly pulled it from my pocket.

"Hello?" I answered.

"Is this Isabella Swan." an unfamiliar voice asked.

"Yes, who is this?" I responded as a feeling of dread coursed through me.

"I'm sorry to have to deliver this news, but your father, Charlie Swan has been in a terrible accident." the voice continued.

"What?" I felt my blood run cold.

"He's at the hospital in Port Angeles now."

"I'll be right there." I hung up the phone and pulled out of the parking lot.

_Thanks for reading._


	3. Critical

"I'm here to see my father, Charlie Swan." I told the woman at the front desk of the hospital when I finally reached it.

"He's in surgery. If you'd like to take a seat in the waiting room, I'll have his doctor come talk to you as soon as he can." she told me as she flipped through several files on her desk.

"Thank you." I entered the small waiting room and collapsed in one of the chairs.

The waiting room was filled with magazines and children's toys. It was currently empty except for me.

I flipped through a magazine as I tried to keep my mind off of the fact that my father was in surgery after an accident that I had no idea about.

The minutes slowly began to feel like hours and the ticking from the clock on the wall, suddenly felt like a count down to some great and terrible fate.

After sitting became too much for me I paced the length of the room.

A million terrible things that could have happened to my father ran through my mind over and over.

"Bella?" a voice at the door startled me in the middle of my pacing.

I looked up and met the familiar eyes of one of the last people I expected to see.

"Jake?" I paused what I was doing and folded my arms, automatically placing a barrier between the two of us.

"I know that you aren't exactly happy with me and I still have a lot of things to figure out when it comes to you, but I think that in the event of your father being in the hospital we should put our own problems aside and let it go for now." he told me quietly, his serious eyes staring into mine.

"A momentary truce?" I resisted the urge to say it sarcastically.

"That's the idea." he watched me carefully for a reaction.

I didn't answer and instead took a seat in one of the waiting room chairs again. He waited a minute and then purposely took the chair next to me.

"How did you know what was going on?" I asked after several minutes of silence.

"News travels fast." he shrugged.

"Right." I rolled my eyes and crossed my legs, refusing to meet his gaze.

I knew I was behaving childishly, but I refused to let my guard down. I couldn't let my guard down when this wasn't going to last. When and if Charlie recovered he would go back to being mad at me and I wasn't going to give him the power to hurt me. I had made the mistake of giving him that power once and look at where I had ended up.

I couldn't help but think, however, that the fact that he was even here sitting next to me meant that he didn't plan on our disagreement lasting long term and that eventually he thought things between us would go back to normal or at least get better.

"Ms. Swan." a voice pulled me out of my thoughts.

"Yes." I looked up at the doctor, dressed in a white lab coat and holding a clip board.

"Can I talk to you for a second?" he asked as he marked something on the clipboard and looked up to meet my eyes.

"Sure." I stood up carefully and moved over to where he was standing.

"The surgery went successfully, we managed to stop the internal bleeding, however he's still in critical condition and we don't know whether he'll last the night." the man told me in a quiet voice.

"Wait, Internal bleeding? What happened?" I felt like I was going to collapse, but I forced myself to stay strong, I needed to hear this.

"Your father was in a severe car accident. It was a hit and run so we have no idea who did it. He did sustain a lot of damage, He has a broken leg, a severe concussion, and the impact caused a great deal of internal bleeding. I'm sorry, Ms. Swan, we're doing everything that we can."

"Can I see him?" I asked through the tears that had filled my eyes.

"You have ten minutes." he told me as he led me through the door and down the hall to a hospital room.

"Thank you." I told him before I opened the door and entered the room.

Charlie was laying in a hospital bed, a dozen wires and tubes were hooked up to him.

Several tears fell down my face as I moved over to the edge of the bed and took his hand.

"Dad?" I asked quietly.

His face remained unchanged, no sign that he could hear me or even acknowledged my presence.

"I don't know if you can hear me, but I need you to get better. I just got you back," my voice broke, "and I need more time with you. You need to be there for when I get married and have kids, your grandchildren."

His face continued to stay unchanged and the only noise in the room was the loud machines and the occasional sob that went through me.

"Ms. Swan, your time is up." a nurse poked her head in the room and told me.

"Thank you." I told her as I wiped the tears from my eyes and left the room.

I tried to stay strong, repeating to my self that I wouldn't show weakness in front of Jake, but the tears refused to stop falling.

I finally stopped at one of the benches that decorated the hospital hallway and let myself cry. I placed my head in my hands and cried for the impossible situation I was in.

I don't know how he managed to find me in the maze of hospital hallways, maybe he had sensed where I was, or maybe he had just wandered until he found me, but I immediately knew when he took a seat on the bench next to me.

"Everything will be ok, Bells." he pulled me into his arms, and I couldn't bring myself to pull away.

I couldn't speak through my sobs, but words weren't necessary as he held me and I continued to cry.

_Thanks for reading._


	4. Hunted

I carefully pulled a pick through my wet hair the next morning after my shower. I was exhausted from the long day at the hospital and even a decent nights sleep couldn't make me feel any better.

They were keeping Charlie in a medically induced coma while they continued to monitor and assess all of his injuries and I had no idea when they would bring him out of it.

I pulled my wet hair into a high pony tail and absently got dressed for the day. I couldn't help but wonder whether my father's accident was really an accident. Something about everything I had learned just didn't add up.

The phone ringing shook me out of my thoughts and I hurried down the stairs and to the kitchen to answer it.

"Hello?" I twirled the phone cord in my fingers as I leaned against the kitchen counter.

"Bella?" an overly familiar voice asked.

"Dustin, why are you calling me here?" I let the cord fall from my fingers and quickly straightened my stance. Any pretense I had taken up of leaving last month in the past evaporated in the instance I heard his voice.

"They found Andrea dead yesterday morning." his voice became tighter and more strained as he choked out the words.

"What?" I felt a wave of sadness go over me as I registered his words. I had only known her for a short time, but I had never had anything against her.

"I wouldn't go all to pieces over it. In her apartment we found intel that suggested she was working for the Volturi. I guess she outlived her usefulness." his voice remained cold and professional.

"I want to see the intel." I told him in a hard voice.

"I'm still in New York, but I'm planning to fly out in a couple of days. You can look at it when I get there. Until then, be careful."

"You too." I closed my eyes as I hung up the phone.

When had my life become so complicated? When had I been surrounded by a tangle of lies and deceit? It didn't seem all that long ago when I knew exactly who I could trust and now I was being forced to question everyone.

I moved over to the kitchen window and looked out at the stormy morning. The woods were silent and unmoving, but I was almost positive that there was a wolf out there watching my house.

Forcing myself into action I grabbed my rental car keys and purse and left the house, making sure to lock the door. Not that anything that I was worried about finding me would be stopped by a locked door.

I tossed my purse onto the passenger seat and put my key in the ignition. The car started and then with a choked sputter died out. I tried again and got the same results.

"Great." I hissed under my breath as I opened the hood and looked around at the unfamiliar mechanics.

"Need some help?" Jake's voice startled me and I turned around quickly.

"Jake, you scared me." I told him as I stepped away from the machine to let him take a look.

After several minutes of looking at things inside the hood he walked around the car and stopped.

"I think I found your problem." he told me with a stormy look.

I moved over to where he was standing and found a trail of gasoline that had leaked from the car.

"Probably just some teenage prank." I shrugged, although I wasn't as convinced as I sounded.

"Maybe." he told me quietly. I could tell that he wasn't anymore convinced then I was.

"I'll call a tow truck." I told him as I turned back to the house, retrieving my purse from the back seat. I was thankful for a chance to get away from his gaze, his face had become a stone mask. A reminder that any sign that we had a relationship yesterday was gone. He wasn't sure whether he could trust me anymore.

Twenty minutes later my rental car was gone and I was sitting on the couch in the living room with Jake sitting across from me.

"I'll go get my car if you want to visit your Dad." Jake told me after several minutes of silence. His face hadn't changed at all, but as he spoke it seemed to soften.

"Ok." I agreed as I tried to hide how shaken I was. First my father, then the phone call, and now the car, could things get any worse?

"You'll be ok here by yourself?" he asked as he got up. This time the mask tore away and he became the same concerned person I had always known him to be.

"As I keep telling you, I can take care of myself." I repeated, but it didn't come out as firmly as I had intended it.

"I'll be back in a little while." he hesitated for a moment before he left the house.

I stood up slowly and grabbed my purse, moving to the kitchen table. I ripped open the seam at the bottom of the purse and pulled out the new id and an envelope with several hundred dollars. Slipping them in the pocket of my jeans I closed the purse and waited for Jake to get back.

* * *

I slipped the casserole into the oven and turned back to the manila folder that sat on the kitchen counter.

"This looks high risk." I commented to Mike as I thumbed through the contents.

"Nothing too difficult to handle, I've got this Mom." he shrugged as I returned the folder to him.

"You heard that Bella's back in town?" I asked as I pulled out the ingredients needed to make a salad from the fridge.

"Yep, she shouldn't be a problem though. She's Michael's assignment and Michael's out of the country right now. That should buy us some time." he shrugged as he came around the counter to help me chop vegetables.

"I heard from Avery earlier today." I began carefully as I slid the tomatoes from my cutting board and into the bowl.

"What did she say?" he asked.

"She's willing to take the three of them and it's best to get them out of the state. Their too close for my comfort, it's only a matter of time before your father or Michael finds them." I told him.

"You're probably right, but have you talked to Bella? She may want Midnight to take them into custody."

"I talked to her several weeks ago, but she doesn't trust me and I wouldn't dare send you to talk to her, not that she would trust you either."

"So we'll just have to wait and see how things play out?" he asked me with a small frown on his face, "I don't like to leave things to fate."

"Neither do I," I replied with a glance out the window, "Neither do I."

_Thanks for reading. Also, if anyone has any ideas what kind of power's Bella has from being the slayer I would love to hear them._


	5. Escape

I waited patiently for Jake to return as I sat in the living room. I could hear the rain pounding against the roof, but I couldn't bring myself to go to the window and look.

The honk in the driveway alerted me that Jake had finally gotten back and I grabbed my purse and hurried to the car to meet him.

"Hey." he greeted me when I finally reached the car.

"Hey. You can just drop me off at the garage that's fixing my car. I have some things I need to take care of tonight after I see Charlie." I told him as I fingered the piece of paper Olivia had given me.

"Bella, it's probably not going to be done until tomorrow, I can drive you wherever you want to go." he said.

"I wouldn't want to inconvenience you." I turned so I was looking out the window. I didn't want him to get involved in the tangle of knots my life had become.

"I have the night off from patrolling anyway." I could feel his eyes on my face, but I didn't turn to meet his gaze. I wondered if he thought I would leave again, he had made it clear that he didn't trust me.

He pulled up to the hospital and the two of us got out of the car, walking together into the building. We didn't say anything, both of us lost in our own thoughts.

"I'll wait here." he told me as he took a seat in the waiting room. I could feel his eyes following my back as I moved down the hall.

I moved slowly to my father's room and slipped inside, taking a seat in the same chair I had sat in before.

I didn't say anything today. I just sat and watched him sleep. I flashed back to when I had sat by Mike's bedside and actually been worried about his family. The family that had been friends at that time. It had been a much simpler time then.

After sitting there for thirty minutes and watching my father's still unmoving face, I forced myself to get up and leave. It wasn't helping either of us for me to just sit here. I needed to be up doing something.

"Everything ok?" Jake asked when I reentered the waiting room. He was sprawled in one of the chairs.

"No change." I shrugged as he stood up and we walked back towards the door.

"So where is it that you want to go?" he asked curiously, trying to lighten the atmosphere.

I wordlessly handed him the piece of paper as I moved around to the passenger side of the door.

"This doesn't look like it's far from here. What's here?" he drove back onto the main road.

"A safe house." I told him quietly.

"And why are we going there?" his voice was more serious not quite as light hearted as it had been before.

"I need to see something." I didn't elaborate, not sure exactly what would be waiting there. I doubted he would even let me go if he knew where I was going and why.

We made small talk for the rest of the ride. Talking about the weather and what I had missed while I was gone.

Finally, Jake turned down a back lane in what appeared to be farm country. It looked so innocent, but I couldn't help but wonder if something sinister would be waiting for me.

"This is it." Jake told me as he pulled up in front of a house.

"I'll be right back." I stepped from the car, leaving him behind as I moved up to the front door and knocked.

I heard shuffling in the house and then James answered the door. Looking at me in shock.

"Bella?" he asked, as if he didn't really think I was there.

"It's me." I whispered softly.

"Come in." he stepped aside so that I could enter.

The house was older, but still in good shape. The outside was immaculately taken care of, leaving no room for suspicion that the house was anything more then innocent. The inside was decorated in old wall paper and outdated furniture. It was all well taken care of, but it was hardly the kind of decorating I would decorate my home with.

Jeffry and Janice where sitting in the living room on a flower-print couch when I entered. Jeffry's hair was shaggy and longer then I had ever seen it and Janice's hair was pulled back in a pony tail. They both looked tired and worn out.

"Abby?" Janice asked as she stood up to give me a hug.

"Hey, how are you doing?" I asked.

"Good, considering the fact that I'm trapped here in this house." she told me, a forced smile was pressed on her face.

"Hopefully, you won't be much longer." I pulled the fake id from my pocket and the envelope of money.

"What is this?" she asked as she turned it over and looked at the picture of her on it.

"A month ago Olivia Newton contacted me and let me know you were alive. I was on my way on a trip to deal with some personal matters and I managed to get the id and the money. I could only get the one," I looked up at the other two men in the room, "I have a friend coming from New York in a couple of days. He's bringing two more id's and passports. We'll get you guys out of the country and there's a man," I pulled a picture from my purse, "Tyler McBride, who will help you get settled into new lives. As soon as it's safe you guys can return."

"It seems like a pretty elaborate plan. That requires us to put ourselves completely in your trust." Jeffry spoke.

"Is there a problem with trusting me?" I let the question hang stiffly in the air.

"It's your fault we're in this mess in the first place. If I had never met you I wouldn't be going through this, none of us would." Jeff said firmly.

"That's not fair." Janice said quickly. She looked different from the person I had once knew, older, more mature now.

"I'm sorry, but if you want to live this is what you have to do." I kept my voice steady, not letting them know exactly how guilty I felt about this.

"When do we leave?" Janice asked quietly as she looked at the ground.

"As soon as I can get all the ids and passports pulled together." I said keeping my voice even.

"We'll be ready." James refused to meet my eyes as he spoke. I could tell that he was just as upset with me as Jeffry was.

"I've got to go." I moved from the room and without another word I left the house. Moving back to the car where Jake was waiting.

"Did you find what you needed?" he asked as I got in the car. He looked worn out like he didn't expect me to trust and confide in him, but how could I? Trust was a two way street and if he didn't trust me how could I trust him.

"Yes." I whispered softly as I gazed out the window.

_Thanks for reading. _


	6. Emotions

_My heart pounded in my chest as I pressed my back against the wall of the alley. I could feel every brick that pressed into my back and I could feel the creature closing in. In that moment all of the training I had received fled my mind and I was forced to rely on instincts._

_I ducked just as the vampire rammed into the wall behind me. I quickly twisted so I was on the other side of it, letting it be against the wall for the moment. I could feel the wind flip past my face as it moved at impossible speeds._

"_Slow it down with your mind." Anya's voice rang through my mind._

_I focused using all of my strength and suddenly the vampire appeared to be moving at a normal pace._

_I moved again, just as it attempted to ram into me._

"_I'm not scared of you." I said in a firm voice as I turned to make sure it wasn't at my back._

"_That's your mistake." a male voice hissed. _

_Suddenly, I felt myself crash into the brick wall. I had lost focus. _

"_Poor little vampire slayer, you shouldn't have come after me." I could feel his foot on my back and knew that if he jerked the right way he would break my spine._

"_This is it. This is how I'm going to die." I thought as I waited for it to come. But it didn't._

_The weight of his foot suddenly was gone, but I couldn't bring myself to care as my injuries caught up to me. There was a throbbing in my head and I could feel pain everywhere. Something sticky and wet was pooling around me, and with only mild discontent I realized it was my blood._

_The blackness that suddenly overcame me was welcome if it would make the pain stop and slowly I found myself floating the pain going numb until it seemed to disappear._

"_Is she going to survive?" a voice was asking when I finally came into awareness again. The voice was one I had never heard before in my life._

"_She'll be fine in a couple of hours, vampire slayers are supposed to heal fast." a women's voice responded._

"_There aren't vampire slayers, the line died out over a hundred years ago." the man insisted stubbornly. I had a feeling that the two of them had argued about this before._

"_Are you really so stupid to believe that even the stronger vampires could kill out the line of some of the most powerful people to ever live?" she asked incredulously._

"_Did you forget, Anica, she wouldn't be alive right now if it weren't for me." _

_I drifted back into the blackness and her reply was lost._

_When I came into awareness again it took me a moment to realize that all of the pain was gone. I no longer felt covered in blood and I felt as if nothing had happened in the first place. _

_I forced my eyes open and was greeted with dim lighting coming from a candle that was set on a table beside my bed. Medical tools were stretched out on the table along with gauze covered in blood. _

"_You're awake." the same women's voice commented from where she sat on a chair next to me. _

_She had dark black hair and light blue eyes that I envied. She looked shorter then normal and her skin was pale._

"_Who are you?" I asked as I tensed. Any stranger could be an enemy._

"_My name's Anica and I'm human." she commented as she saw where my thoughts were taking me. _

"_What am I doing here?" I asked the next question as I sat up slowly._

"_You were hurt, Dustin brought you here to be treated. You were beaten up pretty bad after a brush with a vampire" she folded her arms as she waited for my curiosity to be satisfied._

"_Where is here, exactly?" I had wanted to ask about Justin, but I knew that I needed to ask questions that could help me in a live or die situation, my curiosity could be satisfied later._

"_I've been trying to figure that out for years." she smirked as she got up. I had the feeling that I was being left out of some kind of inside joke._

_It was as she was standing up that I realized I was in a tent. She lifted back the flap and I was greeted with a sea of green grass and trees. _

"_Dustin!" she called as she stepped from the tent._

_A medium height man with the same dark hair and blue eyes as the woman appeared from among the trees. The two of them both looked about my age and resembled each other so closely that I wondered if they were related._

"_Is she awake?" he asked her as he reached the tent._

_She held the flap wider and gestured inside and he stepped in carefully. _

"_How are you feeling?" he asked hesitantly as he watched me._

"_Fine." I kept my voice careful, my guard had just gone up and I had no intention of bringing it down._

"_I'm sure you have a lot of questions, most which I'm not willing to answer. The way I see it is that I saved your life and I'll guide you back to civilization, I don't owe you anything more then that." he folded his arms across his chest._

"_I can find my way back myself." I folded my own arms as I brushed a hair from my face. _

"_You can try, but you'll end up lost. These woods are tricky to get out of." _

"_Then maybe you could tell me exactly where I am?" I stayed as hard as he was, not letting any weakness show through._

"_We'll leave tomorrow morning." he didn't answer my question as he stepped from the tent._

"_You'll have to excuse my brother. He doesn't like being proved wrong." Anica came inside again. I knew she had been listening to our conversation._

* * *

I wiped the suds from my hands as I rinsed my dishes at the sink. It was nice to be doing something normal, something routine.

I felt keyed up from the electricity that seemed to run in the air and I could feel eyes on me. I hoped they were the wolves, but my car kept popping into my mind and stirring up new anxieties.

"Alright, who's there?" I asked as I stepped into the backyard after finishing the dishes. I was pulling on a jacket as I spoke, hoping to keep myself from getting cold.

There was a slight whine as the oversized wolf entered my backyard. It was a russet color and I immediately knew who it was from the eyes. I would know those eyes anywhere, as much as I wished that I didn't.

"Go home, Jake, I can take care of myself." I folded my arms as the wind picked up.

He let out another sound that was a cross between a whine and a growl.

"It's ridiculous for you to sit out here in this storm and I don't like feeling eyes on me. So if you're going to insist on watching me, then you'd better come inside." I turned around and entered the house, knowing that he would change back and follow me in a minute, I left the door open.

"Hey." he greeted me hesitantly as he entered the house, closing the door behind me.

"Hey." I leaned against the counter, looking at the space that was between us. It was more then just physical space, I knew that emotionally we had put the same space between each other. Neither one of us was willing to cross it, neither one of us wanting to get hurt again.

We both stood there in silence, watching each other. The wind howled outside the house and I could hear the rain pounding the roof and windows, but none of it mattered as we waited to see if one of us would cross the barrier we had placed between us.

"You have every right to be angry with me." I looked down at the ground as I spoke, keeping my voice soft. I didn't want to fight and I was sick of acting like nothing had happened and nothing was wrong.

"Bella, when you left the first time, I felt hollow. I went through the motions without any of the emotions that I should have been feeling. The pack was worried about me, my family was worried about me, but I didn't know how to snap out of it because I felt like you had taken a piece of me with you. Then you came back and everything was ok again. I really believed that you would stay for good this time. When I got that note I felt like someone had slapped me. I finally had a chance with you and I really believed that you cared about me too, but I guess you didn't care enough to stay." his voice didn't contain any of the anger that I thought he had, just a sadness that I felt guilty for causing.

"I could have stayed, I wanted to stay, but I knew that if I stayed I would never become all that I could be. You would run off and save the world from vampires and I would sit at home and worry about you and I couldn't do that. I knew that if things were ever going to work with us that we needed to be equal. I gave you that note because I knew that if I faced you in person I wouldn't be able to go and you wouldn't let me and in the end that would be what would tear us apart. I can't be the damsel in distress all the time, I need to be able to take care of myself too." I looked up from the floor and met his gaze, the space between us dissolving as he moved towards me, stopping when he was right in front of me.

"You aren't going to leave again?" he asked as he watched me with the eyes that I got so easily lost in.

"This is my home." I knew that someday I may have to go to Voltura or save some small town in Oklahoma from vampires, I couldn't promise that I wouldn't leave, but I could promise that I would always come back.

He leaned down, closing the final distance between us as his lips connected with mine. I figured that he had taken that as a yes and I didn't feel like explaining it at the moment.

_Thank you for reading._


	7. Missing

_I awoke long before the sun rose the next morning in a cold sweat. My heart was beating wildly in my ears and it took me a moment to separate my dreams from reality. _

_I looked over at where Anica slept, still sleeping soundly. She looked peaceful, something that I hadn't felt in months._

_I slowly got up and moved from the tent taking a seat around the ashes from the fire the night before. _

"_The nightmares never really go away." a voice startled me, causing me to jump and turn quickly, but it was just Dustin._

_He sat against a tree carving something with a knife that was reflected in the moonlight. _

"_How would you know?" I folded my arms to ward off the wind that was beginning to blow. I didn't know what to think about this strange man that had saved my life._

"_My mother was the last vampire slayer." he didn't look up from what he was doing as he spoke, but his voice was full of a kind of quiet pain._

"_That's impossible, there hasn't been a vampire slayer in over a hundred years." I insisted stubbornly. _

"_There's something about this place," his voice had gone down to a whisper now, "we didn't understand it when we were younger, we still don't completely understand it, but it seems to exist without the boundaries of time. Months pass in the place where you live while only days pass here and the longer we stay here the faster time seems to move in the outside world." _

"_How is that possible?" I moved from where I was sitting and sat down in front of him._

"_I'll let you know when I figure it out." he said as his eyes flickered up to meet mine for a moment before returning to his task. _

"_How do you know about the nightmares?" I turned to a different topic, I couldn't imagine a mother that would let her children see how terrified the dreams made her. I had no reason not to believe he was telling me the truth and I had an instinct that he was._

"_She passed down some of the slayer genes to us. Anica doesn't have it as much, but she wasn't raised with out mother. She probably doesn't even know they're there."_

"_Why wasn't she raised with your mother?" I didn't know why he had decided to share this with me, but I certainly wasn't going to ask, at least not now._

"_My mother was always gone, off fighting to keep people safe, that didn't leave much time for us. My father was a shape shifter and I saw even less of him then I saw of my mother. _

_I can remember my mom's sister better then any of them, she was the one that raised us. Her husband had died before she could have any children and she raised us as her own. _

_I was born in Romania, where our family originated from. We lived in a family manor that was miles from civilization. I can still remember that house perfectly, my Aunt kept a garden of flowers that she would attend to every morning and as I grew older I would help. In the afternoons I would sit at the kitchen table and my aunt would help me with school work, then in the early evening we would tend the vegetable garden. She would tell me stories until I dozed off to sleep at night. _

_My sister was just a newborn when the advanced vampires attacked. I'm sure those vampires had been around for a while, but my parents had never encountered them. I guess now that they were hunting down the vampire slayers and eliminating them one by one. _

_My mother and father held off the house for as long as they could, but my aunt knew that there was no way they could hold it off forever. She took my sister and I and ran. _

_I still can see the flames that engulfed the house soon after we got out. My aunt had taken us to a river where our smell would be lost and we could still see the flames that soared up in the sky._

_She brought us here where she raised us. There was a cottage that had been built and we lived there for a time, until my Aunt died and then we didn't want to be around those memories. We sealed up the house and came here where we live in a permanent camp. _

_From time to time a wounded magical creature will come to us and we'll help them. My aunt taught my sister all she knew about healing." he finished._

"_Your father was a shape shifter?" I asked quietly. I knew very little about the other supernatural creatures. _

"_Yeah, my aunt said that he turned into a wolf." I could feel my breath catch in my throat as I thought back to Jake. Could it be possible that Anya made deals with more then the Quileute's to become wolves, or was Dustin's father Quileute._

_I didn't get the chance to ask as we both watched the sun rise above the horizon._

The amulet that I kept around my neck started vibrating, causing Jake and I to pull apart. I placed a hand on it and a voice shattered the silence of the kitchen.

"Bella, have you been in contact with my brother recently?" Anica asked.

"He called a little while ago and said he was coming to see me but I haven't heard or seen him since." I answered as panic welled up inside me.

"He usually contacts me every couple of days when he's gone, but he hasn't. I think something must have happened to him, he told you about Andrea, didn't he?" I wondered if he told her that Andrea had betrayed us.

"Calm down," I suppressed all of my panic, knowing that Dustin would be upset with me if I let his sister hyperventilate, "I'm sure it's just a misunderstanding, you know Dustin, he probably just forgot."

"Dustin doesn't forget." Anica said.

"Where did you last hear from him?" I asked quickly.

"After he landed in Washington."

"I'm sure he's ok, I'll go check the air port. I'll find him." I reassured her.

"You'll contact me as soon as you find him?" she checked.

"Of course." I answered quickly.

"What's going on?" Jake asked immediately alert, he had gone from being the person that I knew to a leader in a matter of seconds.

"Could you hear that?" I asked curiously, I had never used the amulet for that purpose before and I wondered whether anyone but me could hear her.

"I heard you talking to yourself, but you weren't really talking to yourself where you?"

"I was talking to a woman named Anica, I met her and her brother a little while ago. Her brother was supposed to be coming to see me, but he hasn't shown up and he hasn't been in contact with his sister. She's worried something's happened to him."

"These aren't normal friends, are they?" he asked me.

"You have no idea how not normal they are."

"What are you going to do?"

"I have to look for him. She said she last talked to him at the air port, I'll go there first."

"I'm coming with you." he told me.

"I wouldn't have it any other way." he smiled, the smile that I loved, before the mask returned.

_Thank you for reading. Just to clear up any confusion, the italics at the beginning of the chapter our flashbacks._


	8. As the Rain Begins to Fall

"What now?" Jake asked as we parked in the parking lot of the airport.

We had been too tense on the car ride to talk, both of us absorbed in our own thoughts.

"I don't know." I answered as I got out of the car with him following along behind me.

I was halfway through the parking lot when my vision began to blur and the world shifted around me.

I was standing in the same parking lot, but I knew it was a time before now by some instinct that I hadn't known I had. Dustin stood looking straight through me at a figure hooded in black.

"Have you finally decided to give up?" a high female voice asked from beneath the hood.

"Not likely." he answered, his hands were in fists at his sides and there was an intense look of concentration on his face.

"You will submit to William's rule, Dustin, just like you did before." the woman slowly let the hood fall from her face, revealing a head of blonde hair and an almost childlike face, although she was obviously older then a child.

"You won't take me alive." he spat at her, taking a step back.

"You could make this easier on yourself." she said, the smile never leaving her face.

"She'll find you, Jane, the slayer's real and she's much more powerful then you are." I could see him switch between tactics, probably trying to fluster her.

"We killed the slayers, they were a useless breed, but you already knew that, all that's left of them is you and your sister and if you don't listen to me it won't be fore long." she didn't lose her air of confidence at all.

"There's another one and she's stronger then the others."

"You didn't suspect Andrea did you?" I watched as she tried a tactic of her own. "How could you? She was your cousin and you trusted her, as much as you trusted your aunt, you're too trusting, Dustin."

"It was nice talking Jane." a smirk came to his face and suddenly he seemed to explode, a wolf being left in his place. He didn't stop to look at her as he ran in the opposite direction and she didn't go after him, just stood and watched, an unreadable expression on her face.

Suddenly I was back in the parking lot, with Jake watching me.

"Everything ok?" he asked.

I didn't answer, taking deep breaths as I tried to clear my head from the fog and haze that I was left with.

"He's not here." I told him when I was able to look up again.

"How do you know?" he asked.

"I saw him leave, we have to go back. A member of the Volturi was here and I suspect that she's still around somewhere."

"Volturi?" he asked blankly.

"Vampire royal family." I explained as I went back to the car, him once again trailing behind me.

"We have to tell the pack, increase patrols." he began making a list out loud as we drove, but I couldn't focus on what he was saying, I was lost in my own thoughts.

Why hadn't Justin come to me? Was it to keep Jane from finding me, or was it something else?

* * *

**Newton Houshold**

"Jane?" I asked blankly as I opened my door to find the vampire waiting.

"It's good to see you again, Olivia." she stepped past me and into my front room.

"What are you doing in Forks? Where's Michael?" I had a sinking feeling in the pit of my stomach, something was wrong.

"He's with the Volturi, William has been informed that Anya and Damon are training a new slayer, one who's powerful enough to destroy all of us. It was Michael's job to take care of her and he didn't." she looked at me with accusing eyes and I forced myself to stay calm.

"Did something else happen?" I asked trying to divert her attention.

"I ran into Dustin at the airport, it seems that movements are being made in your town that you've failed to inform us of."

"I can assure you that I wasn't aware of what was happening with Isabella Swan, she's been gone and just barely returned."

"We'll see, Olivia, the truth always comes out in the end." she smiled and sat down, looking at me with a cool, calculated gaze.

* * *

I sat in Billy's living room in a kind of numbness, I could vaguely hear the pack talking about the smell of a new vampire that had entered the town and not considering it much of a threat, after all it was only one, but I myself couldn't get rid of the feeling that something big was coming, the same something that I had known was coming for a long time now.

"Bella? Bella?" my head shot up, realizing that Jake had called my name several times, I had mostly been ignored after I explained what the Volturi were.

"Yes?" I answered, forcing myself to focus.

"What do you think? Is this vampire really a threat?"

"Jane is like the Cullen's she has a talent that allows herself to create the illusion of pain on anyone, except for me and people with slayer blood. She's much more dangerous then your average vampire, but what you should really be concerned about is that if they sent Jane it means that they're getting serious and it won't be long before they send the entire Volturi and the guard. This is ten times worse then Victoria, she was nothing compared to what's coming." my voice rose in horror as the full impact of the words hit me.

"What do you suggest we do?" I could see Jake's mask cracking.

"We have to fight, there isn't a choice. It's not just me they want, they want to eliminate the wolves because they were created by Anya."

"You said it yourself, we're way outnumbered, how can we possibly fight them?" Billy's voice finally asked.

"You're not outnumbered, there are other wolves, all over the world, Anya created more then just one pack."

"How do we contact them?" Billy asked, I could tell that the idea of their being more then one pack of wolves intrigued him.

"We'll have to track them down, find them, but we can do it. You should be able to sense each other."

"What do you think?" Billy turned to the pack.

"Doesn't look like we have much of a choice." Leah answered for all of them.

"So be it." I whispered quietly.

_Thank you for reading. I would appreciate it if you would reiview and let me know what you think._


	9. Countdown

I sat down on the steps of Billy's house later that evening. A light rain was falling and I closed my eyes letting myself forget where I was and what was happening. Letting myself travel to a place where things made sense and my life wasn't in constant turmoil.

"What are you thinking?" Jake's voice startled me, he had slipped from the house quietly and sat down next to me without me noticing, not seeming to care about getting wet anymore then I did.

"Nothing." I looked down at my lap and he grabbed my hand twining his fingers through mine.

"You can talk to me you know?" his voice was quiet and thoughtful.

"I know." I answered looking up and meeting his gaze.

"You don't have to leave we can send someone else." he whispered, his eyes closing and then opening to meet mine again.

"It's too dangerous for more then a few of them to leave and I know the basics of where to look. They need you here and I'm needed elsewhere." the words held a visibly heavy weight and almost caused me physical pain to say, but I knew that I held lives in my hands and I couldn't let all those people die, I couldn't let Jake die.

"So you're leaving and I'm staying here." his gaze traveled away from me again and I searched for an answer.

"You have to trust me, I'm going to come back, I'll always come back," I finally answered gripping his hand tighter, "This is my home, you're my home."

"What have we gotten ourselves into?" he leaned his forehead against mine and I closed my eyes, trying to savor the moment.

"We're both going to make it through this." I promised, caught up in how close he was.

He closed the distance between us and kissed me, all of our fear and confusion mixing together until nothing seemed to matter anymore.

Someone cleared their throat from the door and we both pulled apart, my face turning a bright shade of red as I realized it was Billy.

"The pack wants to see you inside." he looked away in embarrassment as he retreated.

"My dad has the worst timing." Jake muttered as he got up, helping me to my feet and pulling me inside the house.

"Did you find any flights?" Jake asked the pack as we sat on the couch, he still held my hand and I couldn't bring myself to pull it back.

"Bella and Quil will ship out tomorrow morning and Leah and Paul have a flight later that day. Jared and I will head out day after tomorrow." Sam informed him, looking up from the lap top he had been staring at.

"Is it really a good idea to send Paul and Leah together?" I wanted to ask, but forced myself to remain quiet, mostly because of the glare that Leah was shooting me that was filled with hostility. I was far from feeling intimidated by her, but I didn't really want a confrontation. We had enough problems without fighting with each other.

"I need to go pack." I said quietly as I got up wanting to escape the gazes that were trained on us.

"I'll drive you." Jake volunteered immediately.

Leah gave us a disapproving look as we walked out the door, but I couldn't bring myself to care. Not when the countdown to our separation had already begun.

I knew something was wrong the minute we pulled into the driveway and I could feel Jake stiffen beside me.

"Is it a vampire?" I asked keeping my voice emotionless.

"No, I can't quite place the smell." he answered grimly, moving around to open my door.

The two of us moved up to the door cautiously and I handed him the key letting him enter first.

The smell assaulted my nose as soon as the door opened.

"Blood." I said grimly as I followed along behind him, flicking on the light.

My breathing caught in my throat as we entered the kitchen. Dustin lay in a heap on the kitchen floor, dried blood caked around him, leading from a trail that started at my wide open back door.

"Would you close that?" I asked Jake bending over Dustin to check for a pulse, which was faint.

Jake closed it and helped me flip him over, I carefully examined him until I came to the source of the bleeding. It was a deep, clean and precise cut that took up half his stomach. The blood had clotted and I could tell that it had made several weeks worth of process of healing.

"He should be healing faster then this," I muttered as I went to the laundry room to grab the first aid kit that was above the washer. I felt relieved that I had decided to place a first aid kit on the ground floor, in case of an emergency, it was saving me much needed time now.

"What do you think made this cut?" Jake asked as I returned and dropped down beside him.

"It's too precise to be accidental, it was done by a weapon and it was done deliberately." I said as I pulled out bandages looking for the disinfectant.

I did my best to bandage the wound so that it wouldn't tear open and then had Jake bring him upstairs where we could clean him up.

Jake and I worked together quickly, almost sensing what the other was going to do before they did it and managed to get him stable and clean before we took him into Charlie's room and set him on the bed.

"I'll call Sue, she used to be a nurse." Jake told me before leaving Dustin and I alone.

In the rush of finding him in the kitchen and trying to stabilize him I hadn't had a chance to really look at him. He hadn't changed much, but there was a grimness in his features that hadn't been there before, even as he slept there was a tightening in his face, that was unfamiliar. He had always been guarded, but I had been under the impression that everyone's guard went down while they slept.

"She's on her way." Jake told me as he came upstairs.

"Alright, can you keep an eye on him while I hurry and pack?" I carefully kept my gaze away from Dustin and moved toward the door.

"He's going to be ok." Jake pulled me into his arms as I passed.

"That's not what I'm worried about." I whispered as I pulled away and retreated from the room.

I threw clothes into a duffel bag, trying to focus on selection rather then the thoughts that were racing through my mind.

I wasn't sure how long it had been when Jake knocked on the door and stepped inside.

"Sue's here, she's looking at him now." he said slowly, I didn't look up from my packing.

"Thanks." I murmured for lack of a response.

He stood in front of me as I moved to the closet, clearly blocking my path.

"Do you want to tell me what's going on?" he asked, giving me a look that clearly stated he wouldn't move until I talked to him.

"There's something in the way he looked that was unsettling." I explained, carefully choosing my words.

"He was bleeding to death on your kitchen floor, what about the way he looked wasn't unsettling?" he pointed out.

"When people fall asleep their guard goes down, but even unconscious he has his guard up." I moved past him as he processed my words grabbing clothes at random.

"What do you think that means?" he asked me after several seconds of silence.

"I don't know." I replied, taking my time in refolding the clothes before I packed them.

"Maybe you're reading to much into this." he paused wrapping his arms around my waist and pulling me to him, distracting me from the task I was doing.

"Maybe." I agreed finally, looking up into his eyes.

"He's awake and asking to see Bella." Sue said as she entered the room without any warning.

"I'll go right now." I reluctantly pulled away from Jake, slipping past Sue and moving down the hall in the direction of Charlie's room.

_I'm sorry it's taken me so long to update. Once again thing have gotten crazy and my writing time has been limited. I would appreciate it if you would review and let me know how well you think I'm doing or any ideas you have. Thank you for reading._


	10. Poison

Dustin was propped up on pillows when I entered the room, a quilt which usually laid at the base of Charlie's bed had been pulled around him. His face was pale from blood loss and his eyes were unfocused.

His dark hair had grown much longer then he usually allowed it and it had begun to curl at the edges. His pale blue eyes watched me with a blank expression and I could feel myself almost automatically straighten under his gaze.

"What happened?" I asked as I moved closer to the bed and sat in a chair that had been set there, probably by Jake.

"I was ambushed by a vampire, I should've been more careful," he said offhandedly, as if it were nothing.

"You could have died," I pointed out trying to control the annoyance that had filled me.

"But I didn't," he answered leaning back and letting his eyes drift closed.

"There's something more, something that you're not telling me," I said, thinking of Jane in the parking lot and wondering how much more he had failed to mention.

"You're right," he said simply not bothering to continue.

My breath hitched in irritation and I forced myself to count to ten in my head before doing anything else. I had forgotten how frustratingly annoying he could be at times. Although this was pretty annoying, even for him.

"And?" I finally said, managing not to sound quite as irritated as I thought I would. I was actually fairly proud of myself, he had always been telling me that I needed to do a better job of controlling my emotions. He had told me time and time again that they would be the thing that got me killed.

"I can't tell you," he smiled, his eyes still closed and I bunched my hands into fists all the irritation coming back again.

"You came to me for help and now I'm trying to help you, but I can't do that if you won't tell me what's going on," I finally managed to get out.

"I came to show you proof that Andrea betrayed us, not to get help from you." he said in the same even voice that had me ready to strangle him.

"I'm leaving tomorrow morning to go looking for the other packs of werewolves. The Volturi are coming after us and there's going to be a war. Dustin if you know something that could help me, then I need you to tell me,"

"Where's Anica?" his eyes snapped open and he sat up. The blank expression was gone and in it's place was the face that I recognized, it was if he had suddenly gone from being one person to another.

"I don't know, I haven't talked to her yet, but I will," I promised watching the emotions play across his face in confusion.

"The vial, what happened to the vial," he looked around his hands moving across the bedspread as if he were searching for something.

"Dustin," I grabbed his hand and waited until he was looking at me, "What's going on?"

"My proof that Andrea was working for the Volturi. She had been working on some kind of poison that would kill supernatural creatures. It had to be injected and there's no way you can get a needle into a vampire. I figure she was making it for you and probably the werewolves that would back you up when you did decided to go against the Volturi. There was only the one vial and I managed to get it, all her papers and research were gone so I assumed that the Volturi had gotten them and were planning to mass produce it," he stopped his eyes going wild again.

"How do you know what the poison was for?" I asked, still trying to process the information that he had just given me.

"They didn't delete the files on her computer, I realize now that I was set up. The Volturi didn't know that you had come back yet and they used me to figure out where you were,"

"What about he poison?" I asked."It's not fake, they used the truth to get to you," a frustrated look crossed his face before he looked at me.

"What happened to you?" I enquired, still trying to process everything.

"I was ambushed on my way here. Jane was supposed to retrieve the vial from me at the airport, but she wasn't able to so she sent someone after me,"

"Were you injected?" I could barely bring myself to ask the question, but I forced it out, knowing that I needed to know.

"No, but there was something on whatever he stabbed me with, I'm not quite sure what." he answered slowly his eyes going out of focus again.

"Dustin?" I asked, watching his face for any sign of change.

"I'm fine, just leave me alone," he snapped, the infuriating side of him coming back.

He slumped back against the pillows and his eyes shut. Several minutes later I could tell that he had fallen asleep.

"Don't worry, Dustin, everything's going to be okay," I squeezed his hand before I got up from where I was sitting and moved to the door.

I found Jake waiting for me just outside and with one look knew that he had heard everything.

"What do you think?" I asked him as we moved down the hall and to the stairs.

"I think that we need to have another meeting with the pack. The idea of fighting that many vampires is bad enough, but having them poison us is a whole other thing altogether," he answered.

"We have to find out what they used on Dustin and then find a cure for the poison. If Dustin's right and they have mass produced it then someone is bound to get infected and we need to be ready," I watched his face seeing the fear that I felt mirrored in his eyes.

"How?" he asked me helplessly, obviously seeing this as an impossible situation.

"I don't know, but the first thing we need to do is talk to Anica," I told him, trying not to look at the enormous task before me not as one thing, but as parts.

"How do we do that?" he asked as he followed me into the kitchen.

* * *

I could see the eyes of the pack all widen as Jake explained what we had found out. I knew what an absolutely terrifying idea all of this was and I expected them to freeze or to look as terrified as I had, but they didn't.

"What if they find a way to make it air borne, that would be the next step, wouldn't it?" Jared asked, voicing another anxiety that I hadn't even contemplated.

"No, not if it would kill them too," Sam disagreed, chewing on his bottom lip as he thought things through.

"They've already proved that they don't value other vampire's lives. Why would that stop them?" Leah pointed out.

"I don't think they would want to kill their guard. They specifically target vampires with special abilities and I don't think they would want to lose them," Jake disagreed.

"What move do we make now?" Quil asked, obviously wanting to do something rather then just sit around and talk about all the horrible possibilities.

"We need information and we need back up. I think we should proceed with tracking down the other vampires as we planned and then make a decision with all of us together," Jake decided.

"What if we don't have that much time? If they start infecting people now then we need to be able to come up with the cure. We need to know what we're dealing with," I told him.

I could see the surprise in the pack's eyes that I had gone against what Jake said, but I couldn't deal with that now. Too many life altering things were going on for me to hold back because of Jake's and my relationship.

"What do you suggest?" he surprised me by accepting my thoughts without arguing. I was sure that he would be upset that I had disagreed with him, but he was dealing with things as professionally as possible.

"Anica will be here tomorrow morning. She and Dustin have an extensive network of contacts, I'm sure that we can get some information from one of them," I answered.

"Alright, so we'll proceed with things as planned and see if Anica can come up with anything," he watched me to see if I had any protests, but I didn't and after several seconds of silence he seemed satisfied.

"Leah, Embry, Paul, and I will patrol tonight, everyone else get a good night's rest, I have a feeling you're going to need it," Jake told them.

They began to file out talking quietly to each other and Jake looked down at me.

"What are your plans?" he asked.

" I need to go back and check on Dustin, I hate to leave him alone for so long," I replied.

"Sue's there, but that reminds me. It would be easier if we just brought him here so that we could shorten the perimeter we're running. The farther we're stretched, the more likely something can get through," he told me, absently tucking a strand of hair behind my ear.

"That sounds like a good idea, but is it safe to move him?" I answered.

"I'll talk to Sue and we'll see about doing it tonight. I'd like to keep you where I know you're safe," he told me his eyes looking into mine.

I opened my mouth to protest and tell him that I could take care of myself, but he silenced me with a kiss and I lost all train of thought.

"Alright," I agreed breathlessly when he pulled away.

"If I knew that was the way to get you to agree with me, I would have tried it a long time ago," he smiled, the smile that I loved.

**_I'm so sorry it's been so long since I've updated. My writing time has become nonexistant for the last little while and I'm just barely getting some of that time back. Thank you for being so patient with me and please take the time to review. I would love to hear any thoughts or ideas that you have or even just how you think I'm doing. _**


	11. Called to War

It was a long night with Dustin. Sometime around midnight his temperature had started dropping and soon he was shivering. By dawn I was almost positive he had slipped into a coma as he became completely irresponsive.

His breathing became shallow and at times it would stop long enough for me to panic before he sucked in a breath, as if he were surfacing after a deep dive in the ocean.

Sue helped me the entire night, but she was just as baffled on how to help him as I was. His sickness was beyond basic medical care.

Seth sat in the living room and watched as we moved through the house. I could see the horror that held his expression, and made him look so much younger.

It was shortly after the sun had risen that there was a knock at the door. I moved to the living room and found that Seth had finally fallen asleep on the couch.

I answered and was relieved to find Anica waiting for me.

She looked older from last time I had seen her. Her dark hair was braided down her back and her face wasn't as innocent as it had once been. A scar ran from her eyebrow down to beneath her hair.

She was dressed in jeans and a green t-shirt that brought out the color of her eyes. She looked like everyone else and nothing like the woman I had met in the woods what felt like an eternity ago.

"Bella," she greeted me, her face remained an emotionless mask.

"He's in here," I stepped aside so that she could enter and led her to the room where we were keeping Dustin.

"What's wrong with him?" she asked quietly as she froze at the sight.

"We have no idea," I answered slowly.

She nodded as if trying to wrap her head around what she was seeing, "He was infected, wasn't he?"

The silence was answer enough.

"I need to make a couple of calls," she said quietly as she struggled to keep her composure.

I nodded and she retreated from the room. I couldn't imagine how hard it must be for her to see her brother in this condition.

"If you want to sit with him I'll go make breakfast," I offered as I looked at Sue. She was dozing lightly in a chair that had been placed by the bed.

"Okay," she agreed.

The wolves came in almost as soon as I had finished making pancakes and started on eggs.

"Hey," Jake came up behind me and wrapped his arms around my waist. I smiled up at him before I returned to the work I was doing.

"I got a hold of Alexander, his pack is on their way from Pennsylvania. I also scheduled a meeting with a man in Rome, who claims to have information on a cure," Anica said as she entered the kitchen and froze. She looked around at the people that now filled the entire kitchen and to me making breakfast. "I'm sorry, I didn't realize that you were in the middle of a party, while my brother dies in the other room."

"We can't do anything to help your brother on an empty stomach," I replied evenly.

"I'm all for keeping the troops fed, but Isabella you have a job to do and it isn't camp cook," Anica's tone became softer, but she folded her arms.

"I'll schedule a flight. Everyone else is leaving sometime today and tomorrow to see if we can get some more help," I ignored her and tried to change the subject.

"I have to meet Mark in Dallas today. You're going to have to go to Rome. I hope you haven't become flabby in your three months back," she snapped before retreating.

I moved the eggs off of the burner. I could feel everyone's eyes on me as I moved. All of them were curious about what Anica had said, but I didn't want to give detailed explanations at the moment.

"I'll book your flight," someone offered, I didn't look up to see who.

"Thanks," I set the finished food on the counter and went in search of Anica.

She was sitting next to her brother. Sue was asleep in the chair she had been in before I left.

"I don't want him to die either," I whispered as I moved behind her.

"I know that, but it doesn't help anyone if you continue to try to be the normal girl. You'll never be normal, Isabella. You'll never be the mother that stays home while her husband goes out and saves the world. You can balance things, but you can't ignore your duties. My mother made that mistake and look at where she ended up," Anica's voice didn't have as much of the anger as it had before, just a sadness and emptiness.

"I'm sorry," I wasn't quite sure what I was apologizing for.

"Don't try to pretend that you're normal. You've accepted who you are and there's no going back. The sooner you deal with that the sooner you'll be able to reach your full potential."

I nodded and let my gaze wander to the window.

"Bella, we got you on a flight that leaves in a half an hour. We've got to go now," Seth said from outside the door.

"I'll see you soon. Hopefully with the cure," I told Anica before I turned to follow Seth.

"Wait, I wrote down everything you'll need to know here," she handed me an envelope that was filled with papers.

"Thanks," I turned back towards to door again.

Suddenly, everything seemed real. We were at war and the chances of us losing someone had gone up. I thought of the enormous task in front of me and had to shove my personal feelings aside. I had to become the person I was meant to be and it was much easier said then done.

* * *

_I'm so sorry it's taken me so long to update. I've been dealing with a serious case of writer's block when it comes to all of my Twilight stories and I'm having trouble staying motivated. Thank you to everyone who has reviewed so far and I would appreciate it if you would continue to. Reviews are what keep me motivated. Thanks again._

_Polgara218_


	12. Shadows of the Past

The place where we decided to meet was an abandoned hotel. The place was probably beautiful back in it's time, but now it was slowly falling apart and becoming just a memory.

An old fountain stood in the middle of the lobby area, covered in a thick sheet of dust and grime. Underneath, the figure of a golden mermaid would sprout water from her lips. Her golden hair catching the water and causing it to flow in different directions. The coins had long since been cleaned out, but I wondered why no one had bothered to move the fountain. It had to have some kind of historical significance.

It was as if I were taking a step back in time as I tried to imagine what could have been. The enormous building with beautiful moldings and angels connecting the corners. The banister that led to an upper floor was cracked in several places, but carried the same angel theme, engraved deeply into it's surface.

"I hope I didn't keep you waiting," a thickly accented voice made me jump and I immediately turned to where the voice came from.

A figure dressed in dark black stood watching her. A robe covered most of her body, including her hair. From beneath the black rim her eyes that really caught my attention; an emerald green that had lines of black dividing them up like tiger's stripes. No pupil that she could detect.

"Thank you for taking the time to meet with me," I said as I tried to ignore her unique appearance.

She let the hood fall and I found black hair with streaks of the same green that colored her eyes. She smiled, a smile that sent chills down my spine, as she closed the distance between us.

"I can't say Anica told me who would be gracing me with there presence. I certainly never expected her to send a demon slayer, and the very last at that," she took a seat at the edge of the fountain and I noticed that her feet left no prints. "Tell me, have you been to Mount Kilimanjaro?"

"I don't see how it concerns you, but I went several months ago," I answered as I kept my distance from the strange woman.

"Then it's purpose was completed before it was destroyed," she folded her hands in her lap an unreadable expression on her face.

"You told Anica you had information on the virus the Volturi were creating," I prompted her.

"Ah, a virus so great that it will ultimately wipe out all those who wish the vampires harm. I'll tell you what you wish to know, in exchange for something," her eyes trailed from where they had been focused on her hands to my face. With a cool, calculating look she waited for me to say something.

"What do you want?" I asked apprehensively.

"The amulet you wear around your neck holds great power. Carved by the otherworld, I want another relic that has slipped into our world. Your necklace has a sister, one used by the last slayer. Bring it to me and I'll tell you all I know of the virus and how to stop it. If you don't then you'll get nothing from me," she smiled as if she knew a secret I didn't and I felt my blood run cold.

"What could you possibly do with the necklace? I myself haven't seen that it has any power," I questioned.

"Then your training isn't complete. I've lived a very long time, Isabella and in that time I've learned a great deal. You bring me the necklace and I'll give you what you ask and perhaps I may even inform you of it's significance," She stood up and folded her arms, waiting for my answer.

"Where do I look for it?" I enquired, trying to ignore the horror that went through me at the sound of my name. I had never told her it and I was sure that Anica hadn't either.

"You have the power to bend the flow of time. I have no doubt that you can find it somehow," she stepped back as if to retreat into the shadows.

"Where should I meet you when I get it? I don't even know your name, let alone how to contact you," I said quickly.

"You may call me, Pandora and I'll know when you get the necklace. You can just meet me back here," she smiled and her face seemed to glow for a moment before she disappeared from my view, like some kind of ghost.

I sucked in a breath as I tried to come up with my next move. Pulling the cell phone from my pocket, I was relieved to find that I had service. I dialed Anica's number and waited as it rang.

"Hello?" Anica's voice came from the other end.

"Your contact wants something in return for information," I said without preamble.

"What does she want?" Anica's voice seemed high pitched and anxious.

"A necklace from the last slayer," I answered. I could hear her intake of breath from the other end.

"Bella, there's something you should know," she seemed to almost be changing the subject.

"What?" I asked dreading the answer.

"There was an attack while you were gone. Jake was infected with the virus," she said quickly.

In that moment it no longer mattered what Pandora could do with the necklace. In that moment all that mattered was saving Jake, no matter the cost.

* * *

_I'm sorry for the delay in getting this chapter up. I know it may seem as if I've abandoned some of my stories, but I really haven't. Things have been crazy and I've been trying to get over a series case of Writer's block. I would appreciate it if you would review and let me know what you think. Thank you for reading._


	13. Pandora's Box

I knew who the last vampire slayer was. I could still remember the story Dustin had told me so long ago about his mother, the first time I had heard anything about another slayer and not just any slayer, the last slayer. A slayer that had been murdered, leaving her sister to raise her children.

I relaxed as I closed my eyes and thought of the house that Dustin had described. A manor in Romania, with gardens.

I had been taught to go back in time, but this could be up to hundreds of years. Far longer then I had ever gone back before.

I forced myself to focus and slowly the wind picked up around me. I could feel it blowing through my hair, but I kept my eyes closed. A bright light burned through my eyelids and. I knew that I had almost reached my destination. Finally everything settled and I let my eyes snap open.

The house was just as Dustin had described it. A garden unlike anything I had ever seen and a small stream that ran along the edge of the estate. The manor had the architecture that was old and comfortable. It was straight out of a fairytale, unfortunately it didn't have a happy ending.

I waited until dark, staying out of view of the woman I assumed was their Aunt. A young woman who barely looked above the age of twenty. Her hair was a dark, chestnut brown and her eyes were a clear blue, as innocent as Anica's had once been.

Dustin only appeared to be about the age of five, but his features were already beginning to take shape. The same dark hair and eyes already becoming distinct features. He followed his aunt around and she patiently explained things to him as she performed ordinary tasks.

Their mother came back after the sun had began to set in the sky, her stomach already showing that she was pregnant. She had emerald eyes and the same dark hair that both of her children possessed. She kept her hair pulled back in a braid that hung down her back and although her clothes were quite ordinary, she carried herself as if she was a princess.

She carried a basket under her arm and paused to talk with her sister, who was weeding in the garden.

"How are the people in town?" her sister asked as she looked up, brushing her dirty hands on the folds of her skirt.

"The baker's wife has taken ill and Bess just had her third baby," their mother answered in a thick Romanian accent. Her tone of voice not showing any emotion for the people, she seemed tired and worried about other things.

"Dustin's inside taking a nap. He asked about his father today," she sighed as she rubbed a hand across her sweaty forehead.

"What did you tell him, Madelina?" Their mother asked, her eyes closing for a brief moment in what could be interpreted as defeat.

"I told him that it was a question for you," their aunt, Madelina, replied.

"Any chance he'll forget?" she said wistfully.

"I doubt it, the boy's got quite a memory," Madelina turned back to her garden.

"I wish things were easier," she told her sister.

"They could be if you'd just give it up, Nicoleta. You have children to worry about now and it may have already cost your husband his life," Madelina spat without looking up.

"You know I can't. I'm working to make the world a safer place for my children," Nicoleta insisted.

"And nearly getting yourself killed in the process. Do you want to raise your children? The world's changing and you will die if you continue," her voice lowered slightly in as she tried to soften it, but the firm tone said that she believed every word.

"You still haven't heard anything from Andrei?" she changed the subject. The first seeming to be too painful for her to continue.

"He's your husband. I believe it's your job to keep track of him," Madelina stood up and moved in the direction of the class.

Nicoleta followed her sister, her hands placed over her stomach, as if to protect the baby from the news that she didn't know where it's father was. As she turned, something glinted in the fading light, the medallion that hung from her neck.

As darkness set in I let my mind wander over the information I had learned. The aunt, mother and father all had names now, which made them real people. They weren't just a part of a story I had heard, they had actually lived.

Dustin hadn't mentioned that his father was missing and he obviously had known at that time. If his memory was good enough to describe the entire house and the garden, he had to remember that his father was missing. He hadn't told me, which made me wonder how that part of the story had ended.

I knew that I couldn't wait around and see what happened, every second counted back in my time. I watched and waited for my opportunity to get into the house. To get the necklace. I didn't know what power it contained, but I did know that it could help to save people in the future and that the past was already the moon had risen far into the sky and the last of the lights had been extinguished in the manor, I moved to the door. It wasn't locked and I slipped inside easily.

I made my way to the stairs, where a row of bedrooms lined the first hallway. I looked inside the first one and found a sleeping Dustin, his face rested in peace as he slept. His face looking so innocent, when almost everything was right in his world.

I closed the door and on impulse opened the one next to it. Nicoleta was asleep, the necklace still around her neck. I pulled the small blade, that I had been given during my training, from my shoe and made my way to the bed. Just as I reached for the necklace, Nicoleta's eyes snapped open.

It would have been a harder fight if she wasn't pregnant. Instead, I had her subdued in a matter of minutes, after all she could do was thrash around violently.

"Who are you?" she asked helplessly, when I had her pinned. The knife at her throat.

"Bella," I answered against my better instincts, managing to distract her.

"You aren't a vampire," she stated as her eyes swept over me, in the small amount of light we had.

"No, you aren't going to believe this, but I'm from the future," I told the woman.

"After all I've seen, I'll believe it," she said with that same look of defeat I had seen outside. She was worn out and worn down, she didn't know what choice to make anymore and she was ready to just give up.

"I don't want to hurt you," I told her carefully as I took a step back and let the knife drop to the floor.

"Then what do you want?" she asked, sitting up slowly, her eyes following my every move.

"I want to save your son," I told her.

She laughed then, a bitter laugh, "My son is fine, asleep in the other room."

"Not now, in the future. He's been infected with a virus and without your medallion, I can't save him. I need it to get the cure," I told her.

"This necklace holds great power and in the wrong hands it will be worse then any virus," she snapped as her hands played with the sapphire that hung from a strong chain.

"I can't just let the people that I care about die," I insisted.

"Why don't we go downstairs and you can tell me the whole story, starting from the beginning?" she asked as she slipped her feet out from under the covers. Missing the object that fell into the folds of the sheets.

"Alright," I agreed. I moved over to the bed and then towards the door, slipping my hands in my pockets.

She got dressed and met me in the kitchen, where she started a fire and began making a herbal tea.

When the drinks were finished she poured them and had me sit across from her, "Now start from the beginning."

I told her about my Amnesia, about my life. I told her of meeting Jake and the wolves. I told her about Anya and Damon and training. Then I told her of how I met Dustin and Anica. How they saved my life and helped me. I told her everything leading up to the woman, Pandora.

"Anica, I must have named her after my mother," she said after I had finished.

I nodded once as I sipped some of the hot liquid.

"You can't give Pandora the necklace, but you need the cure. I could help you make a duplicate, she won't know the difference until you've gotten the cure and gotten back to your home," she suggested.

"Can we really risk it?" I enquired, as I thought of losing Jake.

She didn't answer and instead got up from the table, "I have some jewelry in my room, passed down from family. I'm sure I have a sapphire that we can use."

We worked long into the night until she had created a necklace that looked just like hers and she said would hold the same energy that Pandora would be looking for.

"What happened to your husband?" I asked around sunrise, as I was working up the energy to go back and face Pandora.

"He went to visit his family. They live far away from here, I've never met them. He's upset that I leave Dustin with Madelina while I work. He wants me to care for them, but I have a calling that's very important to me. I love my children and my husband, but I can't let people die knowing that I could have stopped it. He's been gone for awhile, much longer then he should have been gone. I don't know what happened to him. I've thought about going looking, but I can't leave Dustin and my baby's due any day," she finished as she stared unseeing at the sunrise.

"Have you ever thought about stopping, about just focusing on your family?" I asked as I thought of my own future.

"All the time. Maybe I will someday, but I can't now," her tone of voice ended the topic.

"I have to go," I told her.

"I know, good luck," she hugged me once before I retreated into the trees.

When I was out of sight of the house I thought back to the hotel and I focused. Soon I saw the bright light and I was there.

Pandora was waiting in the same place I had been, by the fountain. She held a small vial in the palm of her hands.

"Give it to me," she smiled, a chilling smile, and her eyes seemed to glow.

"The cure first. You don't get the necklace until I'm sure it will work," I told her firmly.

"That wasn't the deal," she told me, her smile turning to a chilling glare.

"The deal changed, I don't trust you," I replied.

She nodded once and suddenly gripped my hands. Wind roared around us and then we were at Billy's house, next to Dustin's bed.

"Try it," she hissed.

"I don't know how to administer it," I objected.

"Just a drop, inside of his mouth. It will only take a couple of minutes," she promised.

I took the vial and placed a drop on his tongue, using some of the water from the glass on the bedside table I made sure that it went down his throat.

Several minutes later his coloring seemed to improve and his eyes fluttered open. He opened his mouth and a voice thick from disuse said, "Anica?"

"She's here," I promised.

"How do I know that he's really cured?" I questioned as I turned back to Pandora.

"That's where you'll just have to trust me," she answered.

The wind whipped around us again and we stood up on the cliff. I looked around, disoriented from the traveling. That seemed to be Pandora's goal, keep my off balance.

"Now for your end of the bargain," she told me.

I hesitantly handed over the necklace, the necklace I had cut from Nicoleta's neck, while I had the knife at her neck. I couldn't risk Pandora figuring it out and so I had deceived her, I felt the guilt, almost consuming me as I handed it to her.

"Yes," she hissed, her features seeming to change and alter until Michael stood before me. "You made it too easy. Now we have everything we need to administer the virus to every creature on this planet that opposes us."

"Except we have the cure now," I shot back.

"You can't possibly hope to cure everyone with that small vial, but just in case," he kicked out and sent me falling to the ground, a rock jabbing into the small of my back. The vial flew from my hand and landed several feet from me. I struggled to move toward it, but he was faster.

He grabbed it from the ground before I could try to reclaim it, "Goodbye, Abby."

My eyes widened in horror as the vial dropped from his hand and over the edge of the cliff.

Time seemed to pause for a moment and then without even having to think I threw myself over the edge after it.

The waters below looked rough and angry as I raced toward them. The air whipped past me and I could still see the glint of the vial that held the only way of saving his life floating inches from my outstretched hand.

I had one shot at this, one chance to get the vial and get back to the house. If I didn't make it, Jake would die and I would lose him before I could tell him that I loved him. I had already lost him once and I couldn't do it again.

I braced myself for the impact, just as I hit the water and plunged into it's depths.

* * *

_**I'm sorry it has taken me so long to update. Thanks to everyone who has reviewed and please continue to do so. **_


	14. Calm

The vial sunk quickly, still managing to stay inches out of my reach. My lungs screamed for the oxygen that I had lost during the fall, but I pushed myself downward.

The darkness was quickly cutting off my view of the vial and with one final push I grasped the edge. Grasping it in the palm of my hand I allowed myself a moment of relief.

Then the panic kicked in. I rushed to propel myself up to the surface before I passed out from loss of oxygen. There was no way to know how long I had been without air, but the black specks that invaded my vision had to be a sign that I was nearing my breaking point.

Finally I reached the surface and sucked in a breath. The air hurt my lungs, but I couldn't stop trying to get as much of it as possible to my lungs. The burning and pain slowly beganing to subside.

When I had satisfied my need for oxygen I turned and looked at where shore should be and found myself panicking again.

In place of the cliffs and grey sand that I had become so familiar with was gold. An island that didn't appear to be very big, but filled with life had taken La Push's place. Filled with bright colors and an almost peace about it.

_I'm dead_ I thought in horror. I felt tears began to prick at my eyes. I had failed every person that I cared the thoughts from my mind I swam towards the island hoping to receive some answers and finally collapsed at the edge of the beach in defeat.

"Bella," a voice greeted me and I instantly looked up.

Anya stood before me, her hair flowing in the wind and her umblemished face holding no emotion. She looked at me with eyes that were a complete contrast to her face, it held so many emotions I couldn't even began to separate them.

"What's going on?" I pleaded.

"You made a choice that has impacted us all. You made a choice that can be determined if it was right or wrong by what you do now," she spoke thoughtfully and her voice carried a weight that said she was upset.

"What are you talking about?" I asked as I struggled to understand the events that had just transpired.

"You gave the vampires the ability to kill every force that opposes them in the world and more then that you betrayed your own kind. You betrayed Nicoleta and that event led her to her death. The balance was lost originally by William and Damon and I have struggled to fix it. Now, you've set the balance so far off that we may never get it back on track again. You've always been the one who's influenced every outcome, you once placed yourself on the path to create a new species that would ultimately lead to the destruction of your planet and now you've given the vampires the upper hand," she paused as anger flashed across her face.

"What do I do?" I questioned as the guilt came back. As I remembered meeting Nicoleta and the pain Anica and Dustin had gone through with her death.

"You will go back and you will began the process to remove the power the vampires have. You will fix this mess you've made and you will make it right with every person that you've impacted. You will restore the balance and you will do all of this by becoming who you need to become. Once and for all you will accept the decision you made to take on these responsibilities and you will follow through with them this time. Do not disappoint me Isabella," she snapped her fingers and suddenly my eyes opened.

"Bella?" Seth hovered over my head.

I looked down at my hand that still held the vial and I pushed myself up into a sitting positions.

"Woah, careful there," he immediately tried to ease me back down, but I pushed him away.

"I'm fine Seth," I stood up slowly as I looked around.

"What's happened?" he asked me.

"The stakes just went up," I replied as I moved down the street and towards the house.

Through every step I began making a list of what I had to do. The first thing would be to help Jake and then I would have to began the preparations to end this. Because this would have to end. I wouldn't allow this to go on any longer. Anya was right, I had been putting myself and the people I cared about above the responsibilities that I had agreed to. It was time to fix the damage I had done all I had to figure out was how.

The minute the house came into view I felt a calm rush over me. This was my last time to really enjoy being human for who know how long and I needed to enjoy it. I needed to savor that time.

I made my way into the house where I could hear Sue and Anica talking to Dustin. I knew where Jake was, laid out in his room where he appeared to just be asleep.

I moved towards him and administered the liquid in the vial as I had to Justin and waited until his eyes slowly fluttered open.

Tears began to run freely down my face as our eyes met.

"I love you," I whispered quietly and I felt him take my hand in his.

"I love you too," he answered and then I was in his arms and I realized how long he really had loved me. I realized how long he had waited for me to say these words.

I held onto him and tried to imprint the memory into my mind to be savored forever.

"What happened, Bells?" he asked without letting me go.

"You were infected. I almost lost you," I pulled back so I could gaze into his eyes, the tears still pouring from my own.

"I'm here," he promised as he reached up one hand to brush my tears away.

"I really do love you. No matter what happens," I promised him. Before he could protest I leaned in and kissed him. I felt safe and as if I belonged, a part of me wished that I could just stay in this moment forever, but too quickly I pulled away.

"We have to finish this," I told him as we leaned our foreheads together.

"I know, Bells, I'm right by your side," he assured me.

"I know," I stroked his face once before I turned toward the door. "Sue, Jake's awake."

And as she rushed into the room with Billy just a short ways behind her I realized that my moment was over and that I had to let go. That I had to stop feeling and I needed to start thinking. I couldn't let emotions cloud my judgment again because if they did I would fail and let everyone down.

I left the room and for the first time, I truly embraced my destiny.

* * *

_**Thanks for reading.**_


	15. Hope

Anica sat on the edge of the porch with a cup of herbal tea in her hand. Her eyes were distant and her face blank.

Over the past couple of days both Dustin and Jake had been improving steadily, but Anica's mood continued to become more subdued.

I made my way across the porch and sat in the seat beside her. She barely registered my presence.

"You want to talk?" I asked as I curled my legs beneath me and looked out at the woods.

"Alexander and his pack should be here today," she said absently as she looked into the liquid inside of her cup.

"That's not what I meant," I said pointedly.

"I've never been able to remember dreams. I've been having dreams lately that I remember, not much just flashes, but they're more then just dreams. My mother had the gift of seeing things before they happened and if these are visions of what is to come then I don't see why we shouldn't just pack up our things and start running. Surely it would do more good then watching the people we know die," her voice built in intensity and her eyes blazed with emotion.

"You know what they say about hope?" I asked as I thought of the death that was sure to come. It made me almost physically sick.

"What?" she enquired.

"When you lose it you have nothing left. That's why it's usually the last to go," I replied.

"Well then let's hope that you have enough for the both of us," she stood up and tossed the rest of her drink into the bushes before making her way inside.

I closed my eyes and breathed in the fresh morning air. It was far to early in the day for such depressing thoughts, but I could slowly feel them consuming my mind. It was at this thought of death that I remembered my father, lying in a hospital without anyone visiting him.

It made me sick to think that I had forgotten him. That I had become so tangled in everything else that his life had simply slipped my mind.

"Bella," Seth greeted me as he made his way up the porch steps. His lack of shirt suggesting that he had been out patrolling.

"I forgot about my own father," I said helplessly as I stared blankly into space.

Seth paused for a moment and looked at me, as if trying to figure out when I had taken to confiding in him. After a moment he finally figured out how to answer, "I think he'd understand."

"Maybe," as I stood to move, to do anything, but feel as helpless and guilty as I did.

A flash went through my mind and I doubled over.

_I saw my father and mother sitting across a table from each other as they looked over documents._

"_The Cullen family doesn't exist," my father said blankly as my mother finished reading._

"_What does this mean?" Renee asked as she shoved the last paper aside._

"_I don't know, but I'm digging deeper. I've already made a call to a friend at the FBI. We'll figure this out and what it has to do with Bella," Charlie reached a hand across the table and took Renee's hand in his._

_She looked up at him for a moment and then withdrew her hand, "I've got to go. I'll see what I can find out and get back to you."_

"_Alright," Charlie sighed in defeat as he looked back at the paper._

"_Goodbye, Charlie," she said gently. Her voice holding compassion. _

_Even with Phil gone she didn't love him anymore, but he still wasn't over her._

_The image changed and I saw Charlie at his office, pulling a paper from the fax machine as he talked on the phone._

"_Thanks Mark, I really appreciate this," he told the man on the other end as he hung up._

_Charlie looked over the papers and leaned back against his desk. With a sigh he shoved them aside._

"_More papers on your runaway daughter?" a woman who sat at her desk eating lunch asked._

"_Something like that," Charlie replied._

"_You'd think she'd have some consideration for you. Instead, just after you finally get her back she takes off again. Some people just have no respect for their parents anymore. Just the other day my daughter tried to call me by my first name, can you believe that? I'm trying to nip it in the bud real early, I won't accept any of that. Of course you really didn't have much of a chance did you, with that ex-wife of yours," the woman rambled._

_Charlie picked up the papers, the papers that contained the photo copy an old newspaper article on the death of a man named Emmett. Who was mauled by a bear. Another one talked of an Esme who had fallen off of a cliff. The last one was a bank account that showed a balance of far more then a doctor could possibly have. Especially one as young as Carlisle Cullen._

"_Trudy," Charlie cut the woman off, "I have to make a trip to check up on some things. I'll be back later."_

"_Alright," she said, obviously offended at being cut off. _

_My father was driving in his car. Music from his time played softly from the radio as he watched the familiar road that he had been driving his entire life._

_I could feel his ease. He had his daughter back and his life was comfortable just as it always had been. He finally had absolutely no worries._

_As he came to a turn in the bend he saw a car that was slowly being consumed in flames. A woman laid sprawled across some of the nearby foliage as if she had no energy left from climbing out of the car._

_Without any hesitation Charlie got out and moved to her checking for a pulse. He stepped away after apparently being unable to find one and began moving back towards his car._

_As soon as he turned his back the woman's eyes snapped open and a chilling smile appeared across her face._

"_Mr. Swan," she purred as she stood up._

_He turned back towards her, his eyes widening as he watched the woman who he had believed dead move towards him._

"_You really shouldn't move. After an accident of this severity you should wait until an ambulance can get here," he informed her, seeming to go onto autopilot._

"_But I wasn't in the accident. You were," she smiled again and continued her advance towards him._

_Charlie stared at her blankly as if he couldn't process what was happening._

"_You should have just left things alone. You shouldn't have started asking questions. You know what curiosity did for the cat," she told him conversationally._

"_Who are you?" he choked out still appearing to be paralyzed._

"_It doesn't matter. All that matters is that you know too much and now you'll have to pay for it," she raised one hand and his body seemed to lift from the ground._

_Then with one jerking motion she sent him flying into a tree where he fell lifelessly to the ground. _

_With the narrowing of her eyes the glass in all the window of Charlie's car simultaneously shattered and scattered across the ground to the place where Charlie had fallen. With one more motion she turned over the car and turned around. _

_The car that she had appeared to be in disappeared as if it had never existed. _

"_Goodbye, Charlie. It was nothing personal, just business," she told him as she turned. She bent her knees and with one motion seemed to levitate into the air. _

With a gasp the images around me changed and I found myself back on the porch. With Seth hovering over me in a panic.

"He knew too much," I said blankly as I struggled to take in my new surroundings.

I could see Sue making her way out of the house in a hurry. Seth had probably called for her after I had doubled over.

"I'm fine," I insisted as I straightened out and sucked in breaths of air. I could feel my composure slowly returning.

"What happened?" Sue asked as she looked between me and Seth.

"I don't know. One minute she's talking about forgetting her dad and the next she's doubled over," Seth replied as he stared at me in concern.

"It's nothing," I insisted.

"It doesn't sound like nothing," Sue insisted.

"I need to go talk to Anica," I told them as I moved inside.

Sue turned to talk to Seth. Probably hoping to get more answers about what had happened from him.

I found Anica sitting in the kitchen her phone next to her and several papers with notes spread out in front of her.

"I think I just had a vision and what I saw shows things much worse then we're prepared for," I told her.

"The guard," she looked up at me and I had the feeling that she knew what I had seen.

"We don't have the kind of power to match ones like that," I told her as I took the seat next to her.

"I know, but we have a will so there has to be a way," she quipped without any humor as she turned back to her papers.

"What are you doing?" I asked absently.

"The pack is checking in at least once a day. I'm monitoring the numbers and packs that we've found. So far we're still completely outnumbered, but we have a slightly better chance," she answered.

"Now who's the one with hope?" I asked in a sad attempt to lighten the feelings that were churning inside me.

"It had better still be you because right now we're riding completely on luck and I don't believe in luck," she told me.

"What do you believe in?" I asked in exasperation.

"I'll let you know," Anica closed her eyes for a moment in a movement of complete exhaustion.

* * *

_**Thanks for reading and please review.**_


	16. The Return

Moonlight streamed through the window when I awoke to hear the stirrings of an argument outside of Jake's house. I had been sleeping on the couch, a blanket draped over me that now was in knots.

I quickly got up and moved to the door, letting it open a crack until I was sure I recognized the voices.

Paul's was the most dominant, arguing against the leader of another pack that must have arrived late the night before or tonight, I wasn't entirely sure what time it was.

I quickly slipped through the door and into the night, the voices abruptly stopping at my presence.

"Should have been quieter," Leah grumbled under her breath.

"What's going on?" I demanded as I stepped off the porch and joined them.

"Just a disturbance at the border," Quil answered when it was clear that no one else was going to.

"What kind of disturbance?" I pressed, my eyes flashing dangerously.

"The Cullen's paid us a visit," Paul suddenly snapped and I felt my eyes snap up at the sound of their name. It had been awhile since I had seen them, not since I stopped at their house before my absence.

A slow growl seemed to move through the crowd and I saw Quil flash a look of warning to the others.

"Where's Jake?" I asked in a voice that was deadly calm.

"He's talking with them," Leah answered quickly, when she saw Quil hesitate.

"Someone's going to tell me what's going on or I'm going to go down there myself," I threatened.

"They're asking to see you, there was nearly a fight between our new…..friends and the Cullen's," Dustin suddenly spoke from where he had been hovering at the edge of the pack. I hadn't noticed him, still thinking he was in bed, recovering. Time seemed warped lately under all of the stress.

I turned without another word and entered the house, grabbing the first set of keys I could find.

"Is everything okay?" Anica asked from the hallway where she was lingering in a bathrobe.

"Ask your brother," I suggested as I pulled on a jacket and made my way back out the door.

"Bella, Jake will kill us if you go down there," Quil pleaded when he saw my intention.

"If they're asking for me I'm going to go see what they want," I insisted as I unlocked the car to Jake's rabbit.

"What if it's a trap?" he persisted.

"It's not," I answered as I got inside and started the engine.

"You're really just going to put blind faith in them?" Leah enquired in annoyance.

"It's not blind faith, I can handle myself," I pulled the door closed and pulled out into the street.

In my rearview mirror I could see the others running towards the forest, clothes strewn behind them. I hit the accelerator, knowing that it probably wouldn't do much good against the wolves.

I made it to the boarder much faster then I thought I would. I was ready to go and walk along the line to find them, but they waited right on the road. The Cullen's cars on the other side and the Cullen's standing in a line across.

Sam, Jake, and Embry where standing there. Jake in human form and the others in wolf form. From inside the woods I could see the other wolves peeking out, making their presence known.

My eyes swept across the line of Cullens as I took them all in. They were all there; Alice, Emmett, Jasper, Carlisle, Esme, Rosalie, and Edward. They looked exactly as I remembered them, from my old memories, not so much my new ones. I felt a dozen memories flash through my head before I had lost my memory and just as easily they were gone, as if I were finally able to let go.

I didn't recognize the person I had once been, but I recognized myself now. The person I was with the wolves in my life instead of the vampires. The person I was with Jake, instead of with Edward.

As I shut off the engine and prepared to get out of the car, Jake paused in front of me, blocking my path to them.

"What are you doing here?" he asked as I stepped out, his arms folded across his broad chest.

"They asked for me," I pointed out, he shot a glare towards the woods and I heard a yelp.

"Bella, this isn't a good idea," he hissed.

"I can take care of myself," I insisted, I gave him a reassuring smile and stepped around him.

Instead of trying to stop me he walked along beside me, his arm wrapping protectively around my waste. I shot him a glare, but didn't say anything.

"Bella," Carlisle greeted me.

"Hi," I offered lamely, suddenly unsure what to say. I felt as if I were facing them a stranger, I knew so much about them and yet they had known an entirely different me. It was awkward to say the least.

"You told us that we needed to chose a side and we have decided," Carlisle explained.

I took a breath as a wave of unease passed over me, I felt Jake's arm tighten and the wolves tense around me.

"We would like to stand and fight with you. Although, we believe the Volturi have their uses, we also believe that it may have run it's course, especially if they intend to attack so close to home. We believe that one of their motives is to convince our coven to join with them, they are fascinated with some of our…powers," Carlisle broke off as we absorbed his words.

"How do we know that we can trust you?" Jake enquired.

"We haven't broken the treaty and you could use the numbers, someone who knows your enemy better. We give you a fighting chance, one that you don't have right now. You don't need to trust us, but you need our help," Carlisle explained as if he were reciting something that had been greatly discussed.

I heard a grumble come from the wolves and Jake looked far from pleased.

I glanced up at him and his eyes met mine, "We have to discuss it with the others."

"Of course, we'll be here," Carlisle offered a weary smile as Jake and I turned, the wolves closing flanks behind us in case they had any intention of attacking us from behind.

Jake shot one of the wolves a look and it paused, turning to glare at the Cullens.

"They have a point," I said as soon as we were in the woods.

"I don't like it," Jake told her, voicing the opinions of all of them.

"You don't have to like it. They're right, though. We're going up against things that we've never seen before and it gives us a much better chance," I spoke quickly.

"We meet on neutral territory from now on," Jake gave in and several of the wolves growled, the ones that must have been with the new pack.

"You set the terms, within reason," I agreed.

Jake turned to the others and after several moment of silence he turned, the two of us both walking out to meet them.

"We need a better place to meet then the middle of the road," Jake suggested.

The briefest of smiles flickered across their faces before Carlisle addressed the question.

"We have a small clearing, where we go to play baseball," their eyes flickered to me and I glanced at the ground.

Sam emerged from the trees dressed in cut offs as they discussed where the clearing was and when they should meet.

"We'll meet there tomorrow at noon," Jake decided.

"We'll be looking forward to it," Emmett shot them a smile.

We turned and retreated first, all of us uneasy.

Jake took the drivers seat and I moved into the passengers seat, while Sam took the back.

"Could be an ambush," Sam suggested as they turned back towards La Push.

"Why would they lure us into an ambush when they could've attacked us all right there?" I pointed out.

"We have the advantage of turf here, they have the advantage there," Sam offered and I sighed as I saw the intelligence in the plan.

"I know that you don't trust them, but I know that they wouldn't do this to us. I know the Volturi and the Cullen's wouldn't just align themselves with them. They're good people," I attempted to persuade them.

"You're willing to bet all of our lives on that?" Sam asked.

"I'm not betting anything. I know that they wouldn't betray us," I told him firmly.

My eyes fell to Jake's face which had become a mask. His silence was telling, he was upset.

I reached over and squeezed his hand, attempting to give him a reassuring smile.

When we reached Jake's house Sam hurried from the car to go talk to the others and Jake and I waited inside.

"Are you okay?" I asked him.

"I'm fine, it's just hard hearing you defend them, just like before," he paused.

"None of this is like before. I'm with you now and I love you Jake, not Edward. I'm not the person they knew, but I do still trust them," the words came out jumbled, but I knew he understood.

"I love you too, Bells, and I trust you. I'm just not sure that I trust them and it's hard seeing you with them," he explained carefully.

"Jake, I'm yours, always. None of this changes that and nothing ever will," I promised.

He leaned over and pressed his lips to mine. It was easy getting lost in the kiss, but too soon we heard a knock on the window.

"Quit kissing your girlfriend and come explain to us what's going on," Paul demanded.

I shot Jake a smirk as he gave me a quick peck on the lips and we got out of the car.

* * *

**_I'm so sorry that it's taken me so long to update. I haven't had a free moment in what feels like forever. I have the rest of the story planned out and so I'm hoping that it shouldn't be long until I get the next chapter up. Thanks for those who have stuck with me so long and thanks to all of those who have reviewed, favorited, etc. I would really appreciate it if you would review and let me know what you think. I can't tell you how much they motivate me to write. Thanks again._**


	17. The Plan

I considered myself someone who was strong and independent. I had built my life from nothing and inherited a destiny I wasn't really sure whether I actually wanted, but was dealing with it anyway. I was in love with a werewolf and intended to have a future with a job and a family, maybe even some kind of normalcy. At least as normal can get when you're married to a mythical creature.

It was hard to accept that I hadn't always been that person. I had once had illusions of trading my life, a future full of possibility, to spend forever with a man, or vampire, who was overprotective and borderline obsessive. After all, he had tried to kill himself when he thought I was dead.

It was hard to believe that both of this people were me, or had been me. I barely recognized the woman who was willing to trade it all for a relationship, her first relationship. With Jake I didn't have to change anything, we could have a future together without losing our individuality. Without one of us having to give more then the other did.

I was embracing a new life and the new person I was, but the past just kept coming back to haunt me.

I had meant what I said when I told the others that I trusted the Cullen's, I really had, but how much of that had been the first me, the me that loved them without boundaries, and how much of that was the me that I looked in the mirror and saw everyday.

"Bella? Everything okay?" Jake asked from where I sat on the front steps.

He had just finished explaining our encounter with the Cullen's and noticed that I wasn't paying nearly as much attention as I should have been.

"Fine," I forced a smile.

"What role does she play in all of this?" a man I didn't recognized enquired with distrust.

"A pretty significant one," Seth offered as he glared at the man with annoyance and a hint of dislike. Seth was always so happy-go-lucky that I immediately wondered at the sudden antagonism.

"Bella, this is Alex's pack," Anica introduced them from where she was on the porch. She had changed into jeans and a t-shirt, her hair pulled back into a braid. She was sipping a drink and watching the groups emotionlessly.

"It's nice to meet you," I offered extending my hand. He shook it firmly before turning to the four others who stood behind him.

"This is Luke, Chris, and Brandt," he introduced them.

I couldn't help, but take in the drastic difference between these wolves and the La Push wolves, that I hadn't noticed before.

Alex was the tallest with bleached blonde hair and the same rippling muscles that the La Push wolves had. His eyes were a dark brown that matched the same shade as Brandt's and he couldn't keep his eyes off Anica for more then a few seconds. I filed that piece of information away to be studied later.

Brandt looked similar to Alex, who I assumed was his brother. Brandt's hair was long and unruly, probably kept in his natural shade of light brown, but besides his brother's eyes the two had a similar facial structure and the same tall build.

Chris was opposite the two with a natural shade of blonde hair and light blue eyes. He wasn't nearly as tall as the others falling four to five inches short, but he was still taller than me.

Luke was medium height wise. Falling between the brothers' and Chris. His eyes were a dark shade of green and his hair was a dark shade between red and black. I had never seen a hair color quite like it before.

"I'm expecting Mark and his pack sometime this afternoon," Anica added, a look of smug satisfaction on her face. After all, she had pulled through when we had needed her to.

"Emily's offered to let you use her house while you're here," Sam spoke up, his voice forcefully neutral. I didn't understand why they seemed to be struggling to get along. They were on the same side.

"Thank you for the offer, but we'd prefer to remain in our wolf forms," Alex responded.

"Seth, will show you the perimeter we run," Jake offered and Seth gave an obedient nod to him. He looked happy that Jake had trusted him with showing the new pack around. I had a feeling Jake had chosen him because he was the least likely to try and pick a fight.

"Thank you, we'll be happy to be added into the rotation. You'll keep us apprised of what's going on?" Alex let the question hang in the air.

"Of course," Jake responded.

With a nod, Seth led the pack into the woods, with Justin trailing along behind them.

Anica stayed on the porch, watching them leave and waiting several minutes after they were out of sight to speak, "That went better then expected."

"Could have been worse," Jake agreed as he sat down next to me.

Anica took in the look of confusion on my face before she spoke again, "Wolves are territorial. They usually stay in small packs and avoid each others territory. What we're doing is pretty much contradictory to all of their instincts."

"Well we'll have to figure someway around that if we're going to be working together, won't we?" I said quickly, a little annoyed that Anica knew more about the wolves then I did.

Anica didn't reply and moved back inside the house, the bang of the door closing, letting me know she was gone.

The rest of the pack had broken up into small conversations and after several minutes, Jake finally spoke again, "We need to be prepared in case it's an ambush."

"You aren't seriously thinking of going?" Paul demanded, incredulously.

"They do have knowledge of the enemy and with what Bella's seen, we're going to need all the help we can get," Jake responded.

"I don't trust them," Embry spoke up, his eyes gazing apologetically at me.

"Neither do I, but I'm not about to turn down help that could be beneficial," Jake responded.

I opened my mouth to speak, but Sam cut me off, "We'll go in as groups. The Cullen's may not know about the other packs and if we have back-up waiting in the woods it might give us an edge."

"If we show up early we might have a better chance of figuring out if anything's wrong," Jake added.

"They'll still know we've been there, or that we're there, either way. They can smell us, remember?" Paul pointed out.

"You can confuse me scent, though," I finally spoke up and watched as all eyes turned to me.

"That's a very bad idea," Sam finally spoke up.

"Why? I can get in and out without being seen better then if we all go in together. I'll let you know if anything's wrong and then you can plan from there," I suggested.

"Unless they smell you, and find you, and kill you. Then, Jake loses his head and stops thinking and it turns into a chaotic mess," Paul responded.

"They won't. I've been doing stuff like this for that month I was gone," I told them.

"If one tiny thing goes wrong with sending you in, we're going to have a very big mess on our hands," Sam insisted.

"It won't. I'm more than capable of a quick in and out job," I insisted, beginning to feel my anger rise.

Jake had remained silent the entire conversation, but spoke now, "Do you really trust the Cullen's and believe they wouldn't do anything to hurt you?"

I paused, hesitated and I knew that it was a mistake, everyone's eyes were suddenly watching me intently. I had been defending the Cullen's forever and suddenly my insecurities had been brought to the surface.

I thought about all of the wolves going in and dying, losing Sam, or Embry, or Quil, or even Paul, even if just one of them died….. It was too horrible to even try and comprehend.

"I don't know, but I do know that I'm your best chance and that I need you to trust me," I answered firmly.

"Then we're going to have to do everything in our power to make sure that you can pull this off," Jake answered.

The looks of surprise on everyone's faces was almost comical. If it weren't such a serious situation I probably would have laughed.

"We're going to need someone else's clothes, someone who isn't going to smell like wolf," I finally said after I had recovered from my own shock.

"It will have to come from outside of Forks, scents that they hopefully won't recognize," Sam switched his thinking.

"Maybe an animal skin, they're more likely to leave her alone, if the only smell they get is one that belongs there," Embry contributed.

"None of us can touch it," Quil added thoughtfully.

"Who are we going to get, that doesn't smell like wolf, to hunt down animals and make clothing out of them by tomorrow, without changing the smell?" Paul enquired incredulously.

"You're over thinking it," Anica's voice came from behind us.

We all turned to look at her.

"All it takes to remove your scent from a human is some soap and water. We'll rent a hotel room outside of Forks, make sure that none of your scents come with us, and we'll use latex gloves. The smell will be a little off, but I don't think they'll notice if they aren't looking directly for us," Anica told them.

"Won't Carlisle recognize the smell of latex?" Sam pointed out.

"She won't be getting close enough for him to pick up the small traces there will be," Anica assured him.

"This has the potential of being a very bad idea," Paul pointed out.

"But it's so crazy, it just might work," Sam added.

* * *

**_I am so sorry for how long it's taken me to get this chapter up. Not only have things been crazy, but my computer keeps crashing and causing me to lose the chapter. I promise I haven't given up on the story. I've got the rest of it plotted out and fingers crossed that it should be completed within the next little while. Thanks to everyone who has stuck with me and please continue to._**


	18. A Wolf in Sheep's Clothing

Anica and I sat at the edge of the road, carefully scanning a map that was laid across the hood of the car.

"If you come at it from this way, the wind should be blowing away from the clearing," Anica explained as she traced a line along the map.

"You'll tell the wolves that I'm covered in dead animals and my scent is completely unrecognizable?" I enquired, as I glanced down at my hiking boots, jeans, and long sleeved t-shirt. I was noticeably absent of animal skins.

"Sure, you'd just better hope they don't ask for pictures," Anica replied with a smirk.

"They'll be furious if they find out that we lied to them," I reminded her.

"Relax, I have no intention of ruining what little piece of mind they have by letting them know that we're basing our strategy entirely on which direction the wind blows," She assured her.

"Alright, I'll call you when I get there," I told her, grabbing the map and making sure my cell phone was still secured in my pocket.

"Be careful, Bella, they'll kill me if something happens to you," Anica said, her voice suddenly deadly serious.

"I will be," I promised as I quickly moved into the trees and soon found myself moving farther and farther in.

I was careful about making sure the wind blew away from the direction I was going and paused every once in awhile to double check I was still going the right way.

I paused, when I was feet from the clearing. It appeared to be deserted, and I was careful as I moved slowly around the outskirts. I suddenly froze as I saw movement out of the corner of my eye.

Edward appeared in the center of the clearing and several seconds later another blur joined him. A figure in a black robe stopped in front of him and I watched as the robe fell to reveal long hair, wound tightly into a bun.

"Jane," Edward greeted the vampire, I felt my blood run cold.

"We'll have everyone in position in time. The only variables are the rest of your family. We can't have them figuring out we're there," she skipped pleasantries.

"We'll be coming in the opposite direction from where you're waiting. It's going to rain and all the scents will be confused," Edward assured her.

"Very well, we'll be ready," Jane turned and disappeared back among the trees.

I felt horror rising up inside me chest. The wolves had been right, it was an ambush, and it was likely to turn into a slaughter if we didn't have the numbers in our favor. How many had Jane brought with her? And what powers would they be going up against?

I turned and moved slowly back through the trees, doing everything in my power not to make a sound. The last thing I needed was to have Edward catch me, I had to get back and talk to the others.

I was several feet away when the wind shifted.

I broke into a run moving as fast as I possibly could. I could hear him behind me and sense his presence. I remembered the vampire that I had fought in the alley, remembered running, thinking that I could corner it and losing focus at the last moment.

Anya's voice again seemed to ring in my ears, "Focus, Bella, you can do anything when you focus. You have the power, you just have to channel it."

The sound of the voice that I hadn't heard for so long, seemed to give me the drive I needed. Anya was still helping me.

I seemed to find speed I didn't know I had and soon I could see the clearing up ahead. I could hear the sound of the car's engine and I pushed my relief away in my effort to remain focused.

Anica was waiting in the car, her hands on the steering wheel. The car door seemed to fly open as soon as I saw it and I ducked in.

"Go," I hissed and Anica stepped on the pedal.

We started out slow and I knew that I only had ten to twenty feet on whoever was following me. My amulet seemed to pulse at my neck, just as my heart was, and the car leapt forward much faster then it really should have.

Anica turned in the direction of La Push and the car moved faster then was possible, fast enough to stay ahead of a vampire.

"We're going to have to change the tires," Anica commented, not seeming phased by what was happening.

I shot her an incredulous look and lost focus, the car screeching to a halt.

We were by the woods, around the same place that Charlie's accident had been. I felt fear suddenly compress in my chest as Edward came to a stop in front of the car.

I slowly stepped out, barely noting the smell of burnt rubber and the smoke that came from the tires.

"Impressive," he commented, his eyes flashing.

"Edward, we don't have to do this," I told him quietly.

Out of the corner of my eye I could see Anica hitting speed dial on my phone, which was laying on the seat where I had left it.

"Don't you see, Bella. My family is willing to die for you, someone who betrayed all of us. They still see you as one of us after all this time, after everything you've done to betray us. The Volturi will kill everyone. The entire guard is far more powerful then a pack of wolves and us. They promised to spare my family if I let them have you and the wolves," he explained.

"What makes you think that you're family won't join us when the Volturi attacks and end up dead anyway?" I enquired, stalling. It shouldn't take long for the wolves to get here.

"The Volturi has their ways of keeping them from getting involved," he answered.

"So, what now? Are you going to kill me before I go running to the wolves?" my eyes flickered to Anica, who sat completely still in the car, her eyes on me.

"I don't have to kill you, I don't think I could. Bella, we can walk away from this. You can come with me and we'll get away," he suggested.

"And let the pack die?" I did everything in my power to keep from looking at the woods, from looking for reinforcements.

"You really love him, don't you?" Edward was suddenly looking at me in wonder.

"Yes, I do," I replied instantly, I saw Edward's face tighten and wondered if it had been a mistake.

"I may not be able to kill you, but I can make sure that you're not able to warn them," he took a step towards me.

My eyes flickered closed and I felt my amulet pulse quickly against my skin, I slowly opened my eyes and saw the shield that separated Edward from me. It covered most of the road and curved around the car, keeping both me and Anica safe.

Edward froze in amazement and then the wolves were there, jumping from the woods and forming their own protective barrier in front of us. I could hear the snarls and I recognized Jake at the front.

"Wait," I told them, and I watched as Jake paused, the rest of the pack following his lead, "Let him go. We kill him now and the rest of the Cullen's will come after us, we don't need more vampires to fight."

Jake reluctantly took a step back and Edward's eyes met mine.

"Go home, Edward. Save your family before they decide it would be easier just to kill you now. There's a chance that when you don't come back the Volturi will kill your family before they can come after us, some of us might be willing to play those odds," I reminded him.

The anger in his eyes seemed to burn and then Edward turned and disappeared from sight.

My knees gave out as I slowly sunk down into the road and my amulet stopped pulsing.

The wolves disappeared into the trees and a second later Jake's arms were around me, holding me.

"You know, I don't think that cotton counts as animal skin," he said, sounding too relieved to be upset.

"You're too overprotective. I can take care of myself, you saw," I returned, happy to have his arms around me, even if we were both sitting in the middle of the road.

"Come on, let's go home. We have to plan our next move," he stood up and extended a hand to me.

"I'll call a tow truck," Anica said with a sigh as she looked at the car.

"I'll wait with you," Alex's voice came from the woods as he stepped out of from the trees, dressed in a pair of shorts.

"This is going to be fun to explain," Anica commented and I couldn't resist the smile that broke across my face.

Jake took my hand and the two of us began our walk down the road back to La Push. The relief that I had felt after the confrontation with Edward slowly fading as I realized that we had won a very small battle in a very big war.

* * *

_**Thanks for reading. I would really appreciate it if you would review and let me know what you think. **_


End file.
